|
2025-07-17 Syria-Lebanon-Iran
|
|
Israeli airstrikes hit Syrian Presidential Palace and General Staff HQ in Damascus, more targets in Sweida; 350 dead as Trump asks Israel to stop and HTS troops begin to withdraw
|
[X] Follow up to yesterday’s adventures:
… do not recognize Muhammad as a prophet, and they believe that Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah was God incarnate who disappeared and will return. Because of these beliefs, many Muslims consider the Druze to be kuffar (unbelievers) who should be eliminated.
The Druze faith originated in Egypt but quickly came under threat, forcing its followers to flee and settle in the mountains of Syria, Lebanon, and later Israel. Even today, they face the threat of extinction, as radical groups continue to view them as infidels who must either convert—or be killed.
| More, courtesy of Grom the Affective: |
Israel warns Syria, reinforces military presence on border as 248 Druze in Sweida confirmed killed
[Ynet] Israel has issued another warning to the Syrian regime and reinforced its military presence along the northern border as tensions continue to escalate over the deadly crackdown on Druze civilians in Syria’s Sweida province.
Speak to me again about the new moderate (USDOS beloved) Syrian regime.
According to the latest figures, 248 Druze have been killed since the outbreak of violence, which peaked when forces loyal to President Ahmad al-Sharaa (also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani) entered Sweida — marking their first presence there since the fall of the Assad regime.
Starting Tuesday, the IDF deployed reinforcements to the Syrian border, including a company of Golani infantry cadets, three Border Police companies, and military police units. The move is aimed at addressing potential border protests like the one seen Monday in Majdal Shams, and not counterterrorism scenarios. The IDF requested additional police reinforcements for the area but has not yet received them.
Northern Command expects more demonstrations and attempts to breach the border fence by Druze citizens from northern Israel. The army has updated protocols following a widely circulated video showing soldiers passively observing as dozens of Druze from Israel breached the fence and crossed toward the Syrian village of Khader to reach family members.
Nobody in the IDF is going to use force on Druze - most of whom are IDF veterans.
Overnight reports indicated renewed attacks in Sweida. In response, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel will escalate its military action if Syrian forces do not withdraw.
"The Syrian regime must leave the Druze in Sweida alone and pull back its forces," he said. "As we’ve made clear, Israel will not abandon the Druze in Syria and will enforce the demilitarization policy we’ve adopted. The IDF will continue striking regime forces until they retreat from the area and will soon raise the level of its responses if the message is not understood."
Rubio: ‘We think we’re on our way toward a real deescalation’ between Israel, Syria
[IsraelTimes] US secretary of state says clashes in Druze-majority area of Sweida led to ‘misunderstanding’ between Israel and Sharaa regime; UN, EU and others demand end to Israeli strikes.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
 ...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration...
said Wednesday that Washington hoped within hours to ease tensions in Syria, as the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
, United Nations
...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks...
and regional powers called on Israel to cease its strikes on government targets and regime loyalists clashing with Syrian Druze.
"In the next few hours, we hope to see some real progress to end what you’ve been seeing over the last couple of hours," Rubio told news hounds in the Oval Office as US President Donald Trump
...Oh, noze! Not him!...
nodded.
Trump and Israel have sought to normalize relations agreements between Israel and the regime of interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, head of the former al-Qaeda affiliate that toppled long-time Syrian leader Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Horror of Homs...
in December.
The violence in Sweida, a majority-Druze city in Syria’s south, appeared to throw a wrench in the normalization efforts, as the IDF struck targets including the Syrian army headquarters and presidential palace in what Israel said was a warning to leave the Druze alone.
"We’ve been engaged with them all morning long and all night long — with both sides — and we think we’re on our way toward a real deescalation and then hopefully get back on track and helping Syria build the country and arriving at a situation in the Middle East that is far more stable," he said.
US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said that the United States was asking Syrian government forces to pull out of the flashpoint area.
According to a US official cited by the Axios news site, the Trump administration asked Israel on Wednesday to halt its strikes and engage in dialogue with Damascus. It was the second such request in as many days, with Monday’s apparently having fallen on deaf ears.
However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
Bruce declined to comment on whether the United States wanted Israel to stop its strikes.
Syrian government forces entered Sweida on Tuesday with the stated aim of overseeing a ceasefire agreed on with Druze community leaders after festivities with local Bedouin tribes left more than 100 people dead.
However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
witnesses reported that the government forces joined with the Bedouins in attacking Druze fighters and civilians in a bloody rampage through the city.
| In total, there were some 350 dead as of early Thursday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based war monitor. |
In total, there were some 350 dead as of early Thursday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based war monitor.
Amid the violence, the IDF said it struck over 160 targets in Syria, mostly in the area of Sweida, including government tanks and machine guns headed there. The military also said it was bolstering forces in the Golan Heights, on the Syrian border, in preparation for days of potential conflict.
Meanwhile,
...back at the railroad tracks, Little Nell tried to kick her bound feet and scream post the snotty handkerchief Scarface Al had stuff into her mouth...
hundreds of Druze rushed across the border from Israel on Wednesday, vowing to protect their community in Syria. The IDF said the number of Israeli civilians in Syria was roughly 1,000 and that troops were working to bring them back.
Earlier from the Times of Israel: Syrian gov’t forces begin withdrawing from Sweida as Israel vows to protect Druze
Withdrawal follows announcement of truce, which a Druze spiritual leader says includes ‘full integration of the province’ into Syrian state, though other community leaders reject it.
Syria announced it had begun withdrawing its army from Druze-majority Sweida city on Wednesday night after agreeing to a new ceasefire that it said would bring a complete halt to its military operations there, even as some Druze leaders rejected the arrangement and Israel vowed to protect the minority.
The announcement came after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said parties to the sectarian conflict that has raged since the weekend “have agreed on specific steps” for a truce. A previous truce announced Tuesday appeared to have little effect on the ground in the southern region, where more than 300 people have been killed, according to a monitor.
According to the text of the new ceasefire agreement, published by Syria’s interior ministry, there will be a “total and immediate halt to all military operations,” as well as the formation of a committee comprising government officials and Druze spiritual leaders to supervise its implementation.
The country’s defense ministry later said it had “begun withdrawing from the city of Sweida in implementation of the terms of the adopted agreement after the end of the sweep of the city for outlaw groups.”
The ministry’s statement made no mention of the withdrawal of any other government security forces deployed to the city.
Syria’s President Ahmad al-Sharaa, head of the former al-Qaeda affiliate that toppled the country’s longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in December, condemned the violations and vowed to punish the perpetrators.
“These criminal and illegal actions cannot be accepted under any circumstances, and completely contradict the principles that the Syrian state is built on,” he said in a statement Wednesday.
SYRIAN WITHDRAWAL
In a video carried by Syrian state television, Sheikh Youssef Jarboua, one of Syria’s three main Druze spiritual leaders, read out the 10 points of the ceasefire agreement, which also included “the full integration of the province” of Sweida into the Syrian state.
Until now, Druze areas have been controlled by fighters from the minority community. After Assad’s ouster, some Druze fighters said they were ready to integrate into the new security forces.
The text of the ceasefire indicates that no harm will come to civilians or their property, after witnesses and a monitor reported abuses in recent days including summary executions and looting on the part of government forces and their allies.
It also indicated a joint committee of Druze and the regime would be established to investigate the “crimes and legal violations” that occurred during the events in the area. All detainees arrested during the unrest would be released, according to the agreement as read by Jarboua.
SOHR that since clashes erupted on Sunday, 79 Druze fighters were killed along with 55 civilians, 27 of them in “summary executions by members of the defense and interior ministries,” while 189 defense and interior ministry personnel and 18 Bedouin fighters were also killed. Earlier, the monitor had said the death toll was 300.
According to SOHR, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria, 15 defense and interior ministry personnel were killed in the Israeli strikes in southern Syria. Additionally, Syria’s Health Ministry said that a series of Israeli strikes targeting the army and Defense Ministry headquarters in Damascus earlier Wednesday killed one person and wounded another 18.
|
Posted by Fred 2025-07-17 00:00||
E-Mail||
Front Page|| ||Comments
[112 views ]
Top
File under: Govt of Syria/HTS
|
|
Posted by Jairong+Scourge+of+the+Gepids2435 2025-07-17 08:23||
2025-07-17 08:23||
Front Page
|| Comments
Top
|
|
Posted by Jairong+Scourge+of+the+Gepids2435 2025-07-17 11:20||
2025-07-17 11:20||
Front Page
|| Comments
Top
|
|
12:55 mossomo
12:55 Grom the Affective
12:54 Winky Crash3580
12:54 swksvolFF
12:42 Winky Crash3580
12:41 swksvolFF
12:40 Skidmark
12:23 Grom the Affective
12:18 Grom the Affective
12:15 Skidmark
12:05 Skidmark
11:28 Abu Uluque
11:20 Jairong+Scourge+of+the+Gepids2435
11:10 HeavyG
10:58 DarthVader
10:57 DarthVader
10:55 Abu Uluque
10:46 Procopius2k
10:36 ed in texas
10:33 Procopius2k
10:32 Procopius2k
10:29 Procopius2k
10:20 swksvolFF
10:04 swksvolFF
Merry-Go-Blog
|
