In Syria, a cycle of revenge engulfs the Druze city of Sweida
"Most of the bodies are those of civilians. We had nowhere left to put them. Since then, the number has increased even more. There are at least 200, maybe 300, including at least 21 women and 45 children," Kamal said by phone on Thursday evening. The victims were killed by artillery fire, sniper fire and, in some cases, summary executions. The doctor accused government forces, who took control of the neighborhood on Wednesday, of attacking the hospital before withdrawing from Sweida at midnight. "They placed two tanks in front of the hospital and started shelling us until an RPG round destroyed one of the tanks," the doctor said.
"Anyone who tried to bring the wounded to the hospital was targeted by the tanks and snipers. The soldiers told us: 'If you leave the room, you'll be shot. If you hide anyone, you'll be executed.' They asked us if we were Druze or Muslim," Kamal continued. He said that a young man helping the medical staff was shot dead because he stood up to the soldiers. Two doctors, Faten Hilal and Talaat Fawzi Amer, were killed by snipers near the hospital.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
7 hours ago
- Euronews
Islamists sent here to 'islamise' Europe, says female imam in Germany
German authorities filed criminal charges against dozens of participants following weekend protests in Berlin and Düsseldorf, where demonstrators celebrated violence against Syria's Druze minority and clashed with Kurdish counter-protesters. Hundreds gathered Saturday outside Berlin's city hall, waving Syrian flags and chanting slogans, including "Today we liberate Suwayda. And we will bend the Druze," according to observers. Protesters also directed hostile chants against Christians, Alawites and Israelis while displaying support for Syria's new Islamist leadership under Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known by his nom de guerre Mohammed al-Jolani. The demonstrations coincided with ongoing violence in Syria's Druze-majority Suwayda region, where human rights organisations report hundreds were killed in attacks by Bedouin militias and government-aligned forces. Entire villages have been burned and civilians, including women and children, assaulted and summarily executed. Similar protests in Düsseldorf drew approximately 300 participants who displayed large posters honouring al-Sharaa. Videos showed demonstrators dancing while glorifying attacks on Druze communities, with footage later posted to TikTok featuring scissors symbols representing the cutting of Druze men's facial hair. Violence erupted at Düsseldorf's central train station when Syrian protesters clashed with Kurdish demonstrators. Participants threw bottles and stones, injuring five police officers before authorities separated the groups. Police filed roughly 20 criminal charges, including breach of peace, assault and property damage. 'Sent to Europe to cause unrest' Seyran Ateş, founder and imam of the Ibn Rushd Goethe Mosque, issued a stern warning about the "protesters" who openly show their radicalism on the streets. "They were sent to Europe to cause unrest here, to recruit people for their ideology and to work on the big idea of Islamising Europe," Ateş told Euronews. "A liberal society like Germany cannot and will not close itself off to radical views as long as they do not threaten the constitution." "If right-wing extremist Germans are allowed to demonstrate, then Islamists can demonstrate too. Yet more tolerance is often shown towards Islamists so as not to be seen as Islamophobic," she explained. Ateş's liberal mosque had to close temporarily in 2024 due to threats of extremist attacks. She was the target of an attack by a member of the Turkish right-wing extremist group Grey Wolves in 1984. Ateş has been under police protection for almost 18 years - yet she continues to campaign for gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights. "Syrian Islamists who celebrate massacres of minorities and attack Druze and Kurds on our streets have just as little place in Germany as foreign antisemites," anthropologist focusing on Islam Susanne Schröter told Euronews. "Those who belong to the Islamist opposition to al-Assad should be returned to their home country as quickly as possible", she explained. "They no longer pose a threat there (but) when they come here, they pose a threat to internal security," warned Schröter. Mehmet Tanriverdi of the Kurdish Community of Germany (KGD) noted many demonstrators originally fled Syria's al-Assad regime a decade ago but now support the Islamist forces persecuting minorities including Kurds, Alawites and Druze. He called on the German government to "absolutely correct" its current Syria policy. "In addition to the criminals, Germany must also deport all others who are Islamist-minded, promote the dictatorship and are against the constitution." CDU politician Christopher Förster questioned why supporters of Syria's new regime remain in Germany, arguing they should be encouraged to leave voluntarily or face deportation since Syria is now "obviously a safe country" for Islamists. "Nobody should be given a German passport for taking part in such a demonstration," Förster said. "I seriously wonder why these people are still here at all."
Euronews
11 hours ago
- Euronews
Second aid convoy heads to Suwayda after recent clashes
A convoy of 22 aid trucks was sent to the Syrian city of Suwayda on Wednesday, the second such convoy by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to be sent since clashes erupted between the Druze minority militiamen and Sunni Bedouin tribes backed by security forces. Wednesday's trucks contained 4,000 food baskets, 66 tonnes of flour, 10,000 bottles of drinking water and medical supplies, according to Syrian officials. The first aid convoy entered the city on Sunday. Violence between the Druze militia and Sunni Muslim clans has resulted in the deaths of hundreds and threatened to unravel Syria's already fragile post-war transition. The clashes also led to a series of targeted attacks against the Druze community, followed by revenge attacks against the Bedouins. The UN International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said more than 130,000 people were displaced in the hostilities that started with a series of attacks a week ago. Israel also launched dozens of air strikes on the Druze-majority Suwayda province, targeting government forces who had effectively sided with the Bedouins. The violence has largely stopped as a ceasefire appears to be holding. Shortage of supplies The head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, Mohammed Hazem Baqleh, said the situation in Suwayda remains grim, particularly in the main hospital, where some 300 bodies piled up during the clashes. The city had been almost entirely cut off from supplies during the two-week fighting. A Red Crescent team worked with the hospital's forensics to document the dead and prepare them for burial, he said. Baqleh said that with electricity and water largely cut off during the fighting, "there is a significant shortage of materials and a shortage of human resources" in the hospital. "The markets, in general, were closed and services have almost completely stopped" during the fighting, he said. The group was registering names of civilians who want to leave the city to give them safe passage out, he said. During the fighting, Red Crescent teams came under attack. One of their vehicles was shot at, and a warehouse burned down after being hit by shelling, he said. Families evacuated Evacuations of Bedouin families from Druze-majority areas has already begun. Syrian state media on Sunday said the government had coordinated with officials in Suwayda to bring buses to evacuate some 1,500 Bedouins. Many of them are now staying in crowded shelters in neighbouring Daraa province. Some worried that the displacement for those who leave will become permanent, a familiar scenario from the days of Syria's civil war. Human Rights Watch said in a statement Tuesday that "while officials have said the relocation is temporary, concerns remain that these families may be unable to safely return without clear guarantees." Suwayda's provincial governor, Mustafa al-Bakour, reiterated promises that the displacement will not be long term. "There can be no permanent displacement in Syria," he said. "Nobody will accept to leave the house his lives in and was raised in, except as a temporary solution until things calm down." Human Rights Watch said that all parties in the conflict had reportedly committed "serious abuses" and that the violence had also "ignited sectarian hate speech and the risk of reprisals against Druze communities across the country."
LeMonde
13 hours ago
- LeMonde
'We're dying in front of the world': Palestinian journalist describes daily famine in Gaza to Le Monde
"We're gone beyond The Hunger Games. Now, we are really starving," confided Palestinian journalist Rami Abou Jamous in a voice message sent to Le Monde on July 18 at 1:52 pm. On March 2, Israel blocked, then partially reopened, the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. Food distributions have been managed solely by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an organization funded by Israel and the United States. During these distributions, many Gazans have been shot while trying to get food. Finding food and water has become almost impossible for Gazans. "We see the exhaustion of the entire population, who have become not only thin but psychologically exhausted," explained Jamous. On Monday, July 21, 25 countries, including France, called for an "immediate" end to the war in the besieged and devastated Palestinian territory. "The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new heights," they stated, condemning "the Israeli government's refusal to provide essential humanitarian aid to the population."
