Militias disarmed, calm ordered: What's really behind Syria's surprise ceasefire?
The Syrian Presidency said in a statement on Saturday that the ceasefire was put in place "to protect Syrian lives, keep the country's unity, and meet national and humanitarian obligations." It asked all sides to fully follow the peace and stop fighting right away everywhere.
The Interior Ministry has started sending security troops to different parts of the province to help calm things down. Nour al-Din al-Baba, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said on Telegram, "The main goal of this national mission is to protect civilians and end the chaos."
The president said that breaking the truce would be seen as an attack on national authority and would be dealt with legally.
Syrian media say that the peace is the result of a deal between the government, Mashayekh al-Aql, the religious leaders of the Druze people, and the leaders of local militias. According to reports, the deal calls for all armed groups in Suwayda to be broken up, heavy weapons to be given up, and militia members to become part of the government security and defense forces.
الرئيس السوري يعلن دخول وقف إطلاق النار في السويداء حيز التنفيذ ويعرب عن تقديره لدور الولايات المتحدة والدول العربية التي ساهمت بنشاط في خفض التصعيد. pic.twitter.com/VDVroFXzoQ — ZaidBenjamin زيد بنيامين (@ZaidBenjamin5) July 19, 2025
After several days of deadly fighting in the province between local groups and armed Bedouin tribes, this is a big turning point.
At the same time that the truce was announced, a deal for a ceasefire between Syria and Israel was also reached through U.S. mediation. Thomas Barak, who is the U.S.'s Special Envoy to Syria and Ambassador to Turkey, stated in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that both groups had decided to stop fighting, with the help of Turkey, Jordan, and other nearby countries.
As government troops take over the streets of Suwayda, the rest of the world is keeping a close eye on things, hoping that the calm will last and stop things from getting worse in southern Syria.
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