Syrian govt says fighting in Sweida halted after tribal forces pull out - Region
Druze fighters had pushed out rival armed factions from the city on Saturday, a monitor said, after the government ordered a ceasefire following a US-brokered deal to avert further Israeli military intervention.
Sweida was "evacuated of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city's neighbourhoods were halted", Syria's interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said in a post on Telegram.
Israel had bombed government forces in both Sweida and Damascus earlier this week to force their withdrawal under the pretext of defending the Druze minority.
More than 900 people have been killed in Sweida since last Sunday as sectarian clashes between the Druze and Bedouin drew in the government, Israel and armed tribes from other parts of Syria.
Earlier Saturday, an AFP correspondent saw dozens of torched homes and vehicles and armed men setting fire to shops after looting them.
But in the evening, Bassem Fakhr, spokesman for the Men of Dignity, one of the two largest Druze armed groups, told AFP there was "no Bedouin presence in the city".
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor also said "tribal fighters withdrew from Sweida city on Saturday evening" after Druze fighters launched a large-scale attack.
Fighting nonetheless persisted in other parts of Sweida province, even as the Druze regained control of their city following days of fierce battle with armed Bedouin supported by tribal gunmen from other parts of Syria.
The deal between the Syrian government and Israel had been announced by Washington early Saturday.
US pointman on Syria Tom Barrack said interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "have agreed to a ceasefire" negotiated by the United States.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later called on the Syrian government's security forces to prevent jihadists from entering and "carrying out massacres", in a post on X.
He also urged the Syrian government to "hold accountable and bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks".
Barrack, who is the US ambassador to Ankara, said the deal had the backing of Turkey, a key supporter of Sharaa, as well as neighbouring Jordan.
"We call upon Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with its neighbours," he wrote on X.
Barrack later held a meeting in Amman with the Syrian and Jordanian top diplomats, during which they "agreed on practical steps to support Syria in implementing the agreement", the US envoy said in a later post on X.
The US administration, which alongside Turkey and Saudi Arabia has forged ties with al-Sharaa despite his past links with Al-Qaeda, was critical of Israel's recent air strikes on Syria and had sought a way out for Sharaa's government.
Sharaa followed up on the US announcement with a televised speech in which he announced an immediate ceasefire in Sweida and renewed his pledge to protect Syria's ethnic and religious minorities.
"The Syrian state is committed to protecting all minorities and communities in the country... We condemn all crimes committed" in Sweida, he said.
The president paid tribute to the "important role played by the United States, which again showed its support for Syria in these difficult circumstances and its concern for the country's stability".
But Israel expressed deep scepticism about Sharaa's renewed pledge to protect minorities, pointing to deadly violence against Alawites as well as Druze since he led the overthrow of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in December.
In Sharaa's Syria "it is very dangerous to be a member of a minority -- Kurd, Druze, Alawite or Christian", Foreign Minister Gideon Saar posted on X.
Humanitarian corridors
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said at least 940 people had been killed in the violence since Sunday.
They included 326 Druze fighters and 262 Druze civilians, 165 of whom were summarily executed, according to the Observatory.
They also included 312 government security personnel and 21 Sunni Bedouin, three of them civilians who were "summarily executed by Druze fighters".
Another 15 government troops were killed in Israeli strikes, the Observatory said.
Syria's Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa on Saturday evening said that after the first phase of the ceasefire, which began on Saturday and involved the deployment of security forces to the province, a second phase would see the opening of humanitarian corridors.
According to the United Nations, the fighting has displaced least 87,000 people.
Follow us on:
Short link:
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Egypt Independent
23 minutes ago
- Egypt Independent
Two leading Israeli human rights groups accuse Israel of genocide in Gaza
A leading Israeli human rights group has accused Israel of 'committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,' becoming the first such organization to make the claim. B'Tselem said in a major report released on Monday that it came to that 'unequivocal conclusion' after an 'examination of Israel's policy in the Gaza Strip and its horrific outcomes, together with statements by senior Israeli politicians and military commanders about the goals of the attack.' A second Israeli group, Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), announced it was joining B'Tselem in calling Israel's actions in Gaza genocide. It published a separate legal and medical analysis documenting what it called 'deliberate and systematic extermination of the health system in Gaza.' CNN has reached out to the Israeli government and the military for comment. Israel has consistently argued that it is acting in accordance with international law and that its war in Gaza following the deadly Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023 is one of self-defense. When other, non-Israeli, groups have previously accused the country of committing genocide or genocidal acts, the Israeli government has reacted with anger, strongly rejecting the statements and often responding with claims that the accusations are grounded in antisemitism. B'Tselem said in the 79-page report that the reality on the ground in Gaza 'cannot be justified or explained as an attempt to dismantle the Hamas regime or its military capabilities.' The group said that Israel's onslaught on Gaza includes mass killing – both in direct attacks and through creating catastrophic living conditions – large-scale destruction of infrastructure, destruction of the social fabric, mass arrests and abuse of detainees, and mass forced displacement, including attempts at ethnic cleansing. It added that statements made by senior Israeli decision-makers 'have expressed genocidal intent throughout' the conflict. PHRI added that the evidence it had gathered indicated a 'deliberate and systematic dismantling of the health system in the Gaza Strip and other vital systems for the survival of the population.' 'This is not about collateral damage from war, but a deliberate policy aimed at harming the Palestinian population as a group,' PHRI said in a statement. But while B'Tselem says the Israeli government is responsible for the situation in Gaza, it also accused the international community of enabling genocide. 'Many state leaders, particularly in Europe and the US have not only refrained from effective action to stop the genocide but enabled it – through statements affirming Israel's 'right to self-defense' or active support, including the shipment of weapons and ammunition – which continued even after the International Court of Justice ruled that there was 'plausible risk that Israel's actions amount to genocidal acts,'' it stated. The group said that the sense of fear, rage and desire for revenge which many Israelis felt after the October 7 terror attacks served as 'fertile ground for incitement against Palestinians in general, and Gazans in particular.' Hamas and its allies killed 1,200 people, including children, and kidnapped 251 others to Gaza during the attack – the worst terror attack on Israel since the country's establishment. The report from B'Tselem comes as pressure mounts on Israel over the catastrophic situation in Gaza. Images of children dying of acute malnutrition have provoked global outrage, with the United Kingdom, France and Germany saying last week that the crisis was 'man-made and avoidable.' At the same time, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under pressure from all sides domestically – with protests demanding the end of the war and the release of all hostages growing in strength and frequency, and far-right members of his coalition threatening to collapse the government if he ends the conflict. First Israeli group While B'Tselem is the first Israeli organization to accuse the government of genocide, a number of international groups, organizations and governments have reached the same or similar conclusions in the past. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press after meeting with US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on July 8. Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images The accusations have always sparked reaction, given their seriousness and the sensitivities around the use of the word genocide, which is defined by the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide as 'acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.' The United Nations Special Committee said last November that Israel's war conduct in Gaza was 'consistent with the characteristics of genocide,' including mass civilian casualties and using starvation as a weapon. Human Rights Watch accused Israel of committing 'acts of genocide' against Palestinians in Gaza by depriving them of adequate water supplies last December, while Amnesty International said around the same time that there was 'sufficient evidence' to conclude genocide was happening in the territory. The government of South Africa filed a lawsuit against Israel with the International Court of Justice in December 2023, accusing the country of committing genocide in Gaza. Ireland joined South Africa's case earlier this year. The UN's top court ordered Israel to take 'all measures' to prevent a genocide in Gaza in a ruling on South Africa's request for emergency measures, which act like a restraining order while the court considers the full merits of the genocide case, a move that could take years. Several prominent Israeli individuals have also made the same accusation, including leading genocide expert Omer Bartov who penned an op-ed in the New York Times saying that his 'inescapable conclusion has become that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.' Israeli historian Lee Mordechai made a similar point earlier this month, collating a database of what he said were examples of Israel's war crimes in Gaza and saying that the evidence he had seen 'indicates that one of Israel's very likely objectives' was to 'ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip.'
Egypt Independent
23 minutes ago
- Egypt Independent
UN aid chief says next few days will be 'make or break' for aid efforts in Gaza
We've been hearing today from UN aid chief Tom Fletcher, who has warned the coming days will be 'make or break' for humanitarian efforts in Gaza. The UN's 'whole focus unrelentingly is getting that aid moving,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme, addressing Israeli claims that pallets of aid are not being distributed by UN agencies. 'We're not going to leave aid on pallets if we can,' he said. 'But to get to it, our drivers face bureaucratic constraints, they face massive security constraints.' 'We have a plan,' he said. 'We can reach everyone in Gaza in the next couple of weeks with our aid, with lifesaving aid. We can save as many survivors as possible.' He added the UN got 'quite a bit of food in' yesterday, but that 'lots of that got looted.' Fletcher described the risks faced by humanitarian workers who 'have to run the gauntlet,' driving aid along roads where civilians, whom he described as 'starving,' know aid is coming. 'They know we're coming and they're desperate,' he said. The situation, he added, is what 'keeps us awake at night.' 'We need a sustained period of delivery,' he said. 'Ultimately, we need a ceasefire. These pauses are a good step in the right direction, but stopping the conflict is key.' Israel's response: Over the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the UN is creating an 'excuse and a lie' about humanitarian routes inside Gaza. Referring to the tactical pause announced by the Israeli military yesterday, which includes the designation of aid routes through parts of Gaza, Netanyahu said: 'There are secure routes. They have always been there, but today it's official. No more excuses.'
Al-Ahram Weekly
an hour ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Israeli settlers attack West Bank Christian village - War on Gaza
Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank overnight, torching cars and spray-painting threatening graffiti, a witness and the Palestinian Authority said Monday. Jeries Azar, a Taybeh resident and journalist for Palestine TV, told AFP his house and car were targeted in the pre-dawn assault. "I looked outside and saw my car on fire, and they were throwing something at the vehicle and in the direction of the house," Azar said. The Palestinian Authority issued a statement blaming "Israeli colonial settlers" for the attack on Taybeh. Azar said he was terrified and put himself in the shoes of the Dawabsheh family, a couple who were burned to death with their baby after settlers attacked their West Bank village of Duma in 2015. "My greatest fear was for my two-year-old son. After we escaped, he cried nonstop for an hour", Azar said, adding that the Israeli army had surveyed the area after the attack. Israeli police and the military said in a joint statement that a unit was dispatched to Taybeh and reported "two burned Palestinian vehicles and graffiti". The statement said that no suspects were apprehended but that Israeli police have launched an investigation. A photo shared by a Palestinian government agency on social media showed graffiti on a Taybeh wall that read: "Al-Mughayyir, you will regret", referring to a nearby village that was also attacked by settlers earlier this year. The Palestinian Authority's foreign ministry condemned the attack, calling it "settler terrorism". Germany's ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, also condemned the action, writing on X: "These extremist settlers may claim that God gave them the land. But they are nothing but criminals abhorrent to any faith". Taybeh and its surroundings have experienced several bouts of settler violence in recent months, including an arson attack at an ancient Byzantine church. The village -- home to about 1,300 mostly Christian Palestinians, many holding US dual citizenship -- is known for its brewery, the oldest in the Palestinian territories. Settlers have attacked neighbouring communities in recent months, resulting in three deaths, damage to Palestinian water wells and the displacement of at least one rural herding community. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. The territory is home to about three million Palestinians and around 700,000 Israeli settlers, including about 200,000 in east Jerusalem. Last week, 71 members of Israel's 120-seat parliament, or Knesset, passed a motion calling on the government to annexe the West Bank. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
