Middle East: Syrian forces return to Sweida amid unrest – DW – 07/19/2025
The presidency announced a nationwide ceasefire on Saturday, urging all sides to halt hostilities. The move comes after nearly a week of violence in Sweida province, where clashes between Druze factions and Bedouin fighters have left hundreds dead, according to local sources.
The interior ministry confirmed that internal security forces had begun operations in the area.
In a separate address, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said mediation by "Arab and American" actors had helped calm tensions. He also condemned Israel for recent airstrikes targeting Syrian government positions in the south and in Damascus.
Israel has said its strikes aimed to protect the Druze minority, which has a large presence in Israel and in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Sharaa warned that Syria would not become a "testing ground for partition, secession, or sectarian incitement."
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Israeli troops have opened fire on Palestinians gathering near food distribution sites in southern Gaza, killing at least 32 people, according to witnesses and hospital officials.
The deadly shootings occurred Saturday near facilities run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial aid group backed by the US and Israel.
The DPA news agency reported that at least 37 people were killed. The deaths were reported to have been near two aid hubs.
At one site in the Khan Younis area, about 100 were wounded by gunfire and shelling and brought to Nasser Hospital from the nearby al-Tina district.
Hospital staff warned that the death toll could rise due to the severity of many injuries.
The Israeli military said it was investigating the incident in response to media inquiries.
The GHF began operations in late May after a prolonged Israeli blockade of aid. Supported by both Israel and the US, the foundation has drawn criticism from the United Nations for running too few centers and putting civilians at risk.
According to the UN, hundreds of people have died near aid convoys and distribution hubs in Gaza since the end of May.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Unrest in Syria continued on Saturday following increased tensions based around the region of Sweida in the south where Druze and Bedouin factions have been fighting.
The deployment of Syrian forces during the week resulted in Israel launching strikes on Syria, including in the capital Damascus.
US, Arab and Turkish support brought about a ceasefire between Syria and Damascus.
At the same time, the situation in Gaza remains dire with many desparate for aid, but with Israel only allowing aid centers to be operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an aid group backed by Israel and the United States.
There have been numerous reports of Palestinians being killed as they gather to receive aid since the GHF started operating in the enclave.
Follow along as DW brings you the latest reports, explainers and analysis on developments across the Middle East.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Int'l Business Times
2 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
Gaza Civil Defence Says Israeli Fire Kills 67 Aid Seekers
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians trying to collect humanitarian aid in the territory's north on Sunday, killing 67 people and wounding dozens more. The UN World Food Programme said its 25-truck convoy carrying food aid "encountered massive crowds of hungry civilians which came under gunfire", soon after it crossed the border from Israel and cleared checkpoints. Israel's military disputed the death toll and said soldiers had fired warning shots "to remove an immediate threat posed to them" as thousands gathered near Gaza City. Deaths of civilians seeking aid have become a regular occurrence in Gaza, with the authorities blaming Israeli fire as crowds facing chronic shortages of food and other essentials flock in huge numbers to aid centres. The UN said earlier this month that nearly 800 aid-seekers had been killed since late May, including on the routes of aid convoys. In the southern Gaza Strip, the civil defence agency said six others were killed on Sunday near an aid distribution centre northwest of Rafah, where dozens of people lost their lives a day earlier. In Gaza City, Qasem Abu Khater, 36, told AFP he had rushed to try to get a bag of flour but instead found a desperate crowd of thousands and "deadly overcrowding and pushing". "The tanks were firing shells randomly at us and Israeli sniper soldiers were shooting as if they were hunting animals in a forest," he added. "Dozens of people were martyred right before my eyes and no one could save anyone." Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP the death toll was 67 and expected to rise while the WFP condemned violence against civilians seeking aid as "completely unacceptable". Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the agency and other parties. The army has maintained that it works to avoid harm to civilians, saying this month that it issued new instructions to its troops on the ground "following lessons learned" from a spate of similar incidents. The war was sparked by Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, leading to the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed 58,895 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday expressed his regret to Pope Leo XIV after what he described as a "stray" munition killed three people sheltering at the Holy Family Church in Gaza City. At the end of the Angelus prayer on Sunday, the pope slammed the "barbarity" of the Gaza war and called for peace, days after the Israeli strike on the territory's only Catholic church. The strike was part of the "ongoing military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza", he added. "I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations." The Catholic Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, held mass at the Gaza church on Sunday after travelling to the devastated territory in a rare visit on Friday. Most of Gaza's population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war and there have been repeated evacuation calls across large parts of the coastal enclave. On Sunday morning, the Israeli military told residents and displaced Palestinians sheltering in the Deir el-Balah area to move south immediately. Israel was "expanding its activities" against Hamas around Deir el-Balah, "where it has not operated before", the military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X. The announcement prompted concern from families of hostages held since October 7, 2023 that the Israeli offensive could harm their loved ones. Delegations from Israel and militant group Hamas have spent the last two weeks in indirect talks on a proposed 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and the release of 10 living hostages. Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas's 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Palestinians are facing chronic shortages of food and other esssentials AFP The more than two million people who live in Gaza are facing a chronic shortage of food and other essentials AFP Families of hostages in Gaza called on the United States and Israel to agree an end to the war AFP
DW
4 hours ago
- DW
Israel: Hostage families voice mistrust in own government – DW – 07/20/2025
With 50 hostages still in Gaza 21 months after the Hamas attacks on Israel, their relatives continue to grow frustrated. Some are losing faith that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will strike a deal to bring them home. On a windy evening in Jerusalem, a few dozen protesters gathered in front of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. According to reports, the protest took place at short notice because at the same time meetings between Israel's most highly-ranked politicians were happening in that same building, discussing the most recent developments in the indirect negotiations with Palestinian militant group Hamas on a ceasefire deal that would result in some of the Israeli hostages returning home. Some of the protesters held a big air balloon above their heads in the shape of the yellow ribbon, the symbol adopted by campaigners calling for the hostages' release. On the balloon were white stickers with various numbers written on them with a black marker pen: 155, 344, 356. These numbers represent the number of days since October 7, 2023, when the hostages were taken. This started when Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son Hersh was murdered in August 2024 by Hamas in Gaza, appeared in interviews with a sticker and a number on it to raise awareness for the hostages' plight. As of July 2025, this number has surpassed 650. "The era of selection is over," reads one of the signs, referring to the choice process which determines who will be released and who will have to stay in Gaza's tunnels until another deal is struck. The story of Carmel Gat shows just how significant the risk to a hostage's life in Gaza is. Gat was kidnapped from her home during the incursion in southern Israel that Hamas led on October 7, 2023. Israel, the United States, the European Union and others designate Hamas a terrorist group,. She was supposed to be among those released as part of the first hostage deal in November 2023 between Israel and Hamas that saw over 100 captives in Gaza freed and 240 Palestinian prisoners released. But when the truce collapsed, she remained in Hamas captivity. After Gat survived 328 days, Israeli soldiers found her and five other Israeli hostages dead in a tunnel in southern Gaza — the autopsy report revealed she and the other hostages were shot at close range. Gat was 40 years old. Her cousin, Gil Dickman, has become one of the most vocal supporters of a deal for the release of the remaining hostages. He told DW that the current state of the negotiations feels like "deja vu." "A year ago (in July 2024), many family members of hostages were with Netanyahu in Washington, DC, myself included. The only difference is that Carmel and five other hostages were alive back then," Dickman recalled. "Carmel could have returned had Netanyahu made the right call." Yehuda Cohen's son, Nimrod, is one of the some 20 hostages believed to be still alive — 30 others are thought to be dead. In a conversation with DW, Yehuda Cohen outlined how he lost his trust that the Israeli government would bring the hostages home. "I don't have any trust in my own government, I don't trust Netanyahu," he said. "I only have trust in the American administration that it will force Netanyahu into sealing a deal." This hope — that the US may yet force through a deal — is prevalent among campaigners in Israel. At the protest in Jerusalem, many signs called on US President Donald Trump, rather than Netanyahu, to do everything in his power to bring the hostages home. Cohen lists the reasons for the mistrust in the Netanyahu government, including the insistence on Israel staying in the Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow strip of land on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, and Netanyahu's aides allegedly leaking classified documents to , a German tabloid, to influence public opinion in Israel in favor of the Netanyahu government's position. According to Cohen, the list of reasons for hostage families not to trust the Israeli government is "very long." While Netanyahu told the hostages' family members that an offer to bring all hostages home in one deal "was never an option," Hamas officials went on record on several occasions emphasizing their interest in a deal that would return the remaining hostages and bring about an end to the war in Gaza. "It is our government that insists on a selection process between the hostages," says Dickman, calling this reckoning "painful to apprehend." Still, both Cohen and Dickman agree that any deal bringing hostages back is a good thing. "Even a partial deal means my son's turn is getting closer," Cohen said. The Israeli public is no stranger to hostage situations, whether it is the Sabena Flight 171 hijacking in 1972 by the Black September Organization, Hamas's kidnapping and killing of Israeli soldier Nachshon Wachsman in 1994 or the group's abduction of Gilad Shalit in 2006. As a result, the principle that no one is left behind became deeply rooted in Israeli society over the years. Dickman believes that while the Israeli public supports this ethos, the same cannot be said of the country's government. "This is a government politically controlled by people whose ethos is, in my eyes, more jihadist than Israeli," he said, referring specifically to the far-right parts of Netanyahu's coalition, primarily National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who both want Palestinians to leave Gaza and Jewish settlements to return there. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video "Their goals involve land, not human life, and they consider their goals sacred," he says, adding that the demand for the return of the 50 hostages is also about Israel's future. "It's about whether this country will become such that is willing to sacrifice life — mine, yours — for so-called 'sacred' targets, or rather a country where life is sacred." Yehuda Cohen struck a similar tone: "We have a prime minister who's only committed to himself," he said. "You have people in this government who openly support those who abuse prisoners, which results in the risk of revenge against my son. There's no solidarity in this society; it's each one to their own." According to Yehuda Cohen, the only way to bring his son home is to keep fighting for the hostages' release and the end of the war, whether that means speaking to the media or protesting outside Netanyahu's office.
Int'l Business Times
6 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
Calm Returns To South Syria After Violence That Killed 1,000: Monitor
Calm returned to southern Syria's Sweida province on Sunday, a monitor and AFP correspondents reported, after a week of sectarian violence between Druze fighters and rival groups that killed more than 1,000 people. A ceasefire announced on Saturday appeared to be holding after earlier agreements failed to end fighting between longtime rivals the Druze and the Bedouin that spiralled to draw in the Islamist-led government, the Israeli military and armed tribes from other parts of Syria. AFP correspondents on the outskirts of Sweida city reported hearing no clashes on Sunday morning, with government forces deployed in some locations in the province to enforce the truce and at least one humanitarian convoy headed for the Druze-majority city. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that since around midnight (2100 GMT Saturday), "Sweida has been experiencing a cautious calm", adding government security forces had blocked roads leading to the province in order to prevent tribal fighters from going there. The Britain-based Observatory gave an updated toll on Sunday of more than 1,000 killed since the violence erupted a week ago, including 336 Druze fighters and 298 civilians from the minority group, as well as 342 government security personnel and 21 Sunni Bedouin. Witnesses, Druze factions and the Observatory have accused government forces of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses including summary executions when they entered Sweida days ago. Hanadi Obeid, a 39-year-old doctor, told AFP that "the city hasn't seen calm like this in a week". The interior ministry said overnight that Sweida city was "evacuated of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city's neighbourhoods were halted". The Observatory had said Druze fighters retook control of the city on Saturday evening. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa had on Saturday announced a fresh ceasefire in Sweida and renewed a pledge to protect Syria's ethnic and religious minorities in the face of the latest sectarian violence since Islamists overthrew longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December. A spokesman for Syria's tribal and clan council told Al Jazeera late Saturday that fighters had left the city "in response to the call of the presidency and the terms of the agreement". Another medic inside Sweida told AFP by telephone on Sunday that "the situation is totally calm... We aren't hearing clashes." "No medical or relief assistance has entered until now," the medic added, requesting anonymity due to the security situation. State news agency SANA published images showing medical aid being prepared near the health ministry in Damascus and quoted Health Minister Musab al-Ali as saying assistance would be delivered to Sweida's main hospital, where bodies have piled up. Inside the city, where around 150,000 people live, residents have been holed up in their homes without electricity and water, and food supplies have also been scarce. The United Nations migration agency said more than 128,000 people in Sweida province have been displaced by the violence. US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said Sunday that the country stood at a "critical juncture", adding that "peace and dialogue must prevail -- and prevail now". "All factions must immediately lay down their arms, cease hostilities, and abandon cycles of tribal vengeance," he wrote on X, saying "brutal acts by warring factions on the ground undermine the government's authority and disrupt any semblance of order". Sharaa's announcement Saturday came hours after the United States said it had negotiated a ceasefire between Syria's government and Israel, which had bombed government forces in both Sweida and Damascus earlier in the week. Israel, which has its own Druze community, has said it was acting in defence of the group, as well as to enforce its demands for the total demilitarisation of Syria's south. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday urged the Syrian government's security forces to prevent jihadists from entering and "carrying out massacres" in the south, and called on Damascus to "bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks".
