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2025-07-16 Syria-Lebanon-Iran
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Syrian Interior Ministry: Internal security with Ministry of Defense expelled outlawed groups from Suwayda, clashes still in some neighborhood, over 100 Druze killed
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[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
An American official told the Axios news site that at the request of the US, Israel agreed to halt the attacks later Tuesday night.
The official also said Israel struck Syrian military forces even though Damascus gave Jerusalem a heads up before sending troops to southern Syria, insisting that the move was not directed at Israel, rather to break up festivities between Druze militias and Bedouin gangs.
Earlier Tuesday, Israel carried out a heavy bombing campaign against Syrian government forces as they were rolling into the Druze-majority Sweida, in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said was meant to protect "the Druze in Syria due to the deep brotherly alliance with our Druze citizens in Israel."
They said the entry of Syrian soldiers and arms into the area contravened "the demilitarization policy that was decided, prohibiting the entry of forces and weapons into southern Syria that endanger Israel."
The IDF said it struck "several armored vehicles, including tanks, armored personnel carriers, multiple rocket launchers, as well as access routes, to disrupt their arrival in the area," after identifying an armored column moving toward Sweida on Monday night.
The strikes marked a rare direct attack on forces loyal to the new leadership in Damascus that Jerusalem had seen as a potential ally.
According to Channel 12, Israel had warned interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa not to harm the Druze population ahead of its recent strike on regime targets.
Multiple communications were conveyed to Damascus in advance through diplomatic channels, including the American and the French, the report said.
"If the Syrian regime will harm the Druze, they will have given us no choice but to intervene," Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told his French counterpart, Jean-Noel Barrot, over the phone on Monday, the report said.
A senior Israeli official cited by Channel 12 said that recent events reflect growing instability in Syria, casting doubt on the regime’s ability to govern effectively. If the situation does not improve, Israel now sees little chance of even a modest breakthrough in talks with the new government in Damascus, the official said.
The strikes took place amid internecine fighting that erupted Sunday in southern Syria that has left at least 203 people dead, a war monitor said. The dead include 92 members of the Druze minority, 21 of them civilians "killed in summary executions by government forces," according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, as well as 93 security personnel and 18 Bedouin.
Damascus declared a ceasefire in the town on Tuesday morning, but festivities reportedly continued.
The mainly Druze residents of Sweida had hoped the arrival of government forces on Tuesday would spell an end to deadly sectarian festivities with local Bedouin tribes.
Instead they spoke of executions, looting and arson as government troops and their allies rampaged through Druze neighborhoods, prompting thousands from the religious minority to flee.
"Government forces entered the city on the pretext of restoring order... but unfortunately they indulged in savage practices," said Rayan Maarouf, editor in chief of the Suwayda 24 news website.
"There have been cases of civilians being killed... dozens of them... but we don’t have precise figures," he added, blaming government fighters and their allies.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, government forces executed 12 civilians in a guesthouse in the city, in just one incident among many said to have taken place in the area.
Additionally, it said an gang affiliated with government security forces opened fire on three siblings near the al-Basha roundabout north of Sweida city while they were with their mother, who witnessed the killings.
Unverified video footage circulating on social media showed gunnies forcibly shaving off the moustache of an elderly Druze, a grave insult in the community.
Clashes resume in Syria’s Druze city of Sweida Wednesday morning after ceasefire announcement
[IsraelTimes] Clashes between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters resumed in the southern Druze city of Sweida early this morning, just hours after a ceasefire was announced.
Local news outlet Sweida24 says the city and nearby villages were coming under heavy artillery and mortar fire early, while Syria’s defense ministry, in a statement carried by state news agency SANA, blames outlaw groups in Sweida for breaching the truce.
Israel carried out strikes against Syrian forces yesterday in a bid to protect the Druze, but reports last night said Israel had agreed to a US request to halt the strikes.
Death toll from south Syria violence rises to 203, war monitor says
[IsraelTimes] At least 203 people have been killed in southern Syria’s Sweida province, a war monitor says, giving an updated toll after several days of clashes that triggered the deployment of government forces.
The dead include 92 members of the Druze minority, 21 of them civilians “killed in summary executions by government forces,” according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, as well as 93 security personnel and 18 Bedouin.
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Posted by Fred 2025-07-16 00:00||
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