Latest news with #SyrianObservatoryofHumanRights
Memri
3 days ago
- Politics
- Memri
A Cry For Humanity: The Druze People Amid The Tragedy In Syria
In the heart of Syria, a quiet and resilient community is being silenced – again. The Druze, a peaceful religious minority known for their deep-rooted traditions of tolerance, loyalty, and spiritual wisdom, are facing a new chapter of pain. Innocent families, women, and children have fallen victim to horrific acts of violence. Entire villages have been assaulted. Elders who stood for dignity were humiliated. Children who once dreamed of peace now live in fear – or worse, are no longer with us. Sheikh Dr. Kasem Bader On July 15, reports from southern Syria indicated that Syrian government military forces forcibly shaved the moustaches of Druze men. Jews endured the same treatment under the Nazi regime. On July 16, 2025, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR) published on its Facebook page a video showing a Syrian soldier wearing an ISIS patch on his body armor. In the video, the soldier said that the Ansar Al‑Tawhid Brigades of the Syrian 82nd Division were preparing to enter the Druze city of Sweida in order to "purify it" from what he called the "filth" of Druze leader Hikmat Al‑Hijri and his followers. (Source: See MEMRI TV clip 12156, Syrian Soldier Wearing ISIS Patch Says Before Entering Druze City Of Sweida: We Will Purify The City Of Druze Filth, July 16, 2025) What Is Happening In Sweida Is A Humanitarian Crisis As someone from this community, I speak with both heartbreak and urgency. What is happening today in Sweida and the surrounding regions is not just a regional conflict. It is a humanitarian crisis. Extremist groups have targeted our people simply for who we are – people of faith, of peace, of coexistence. We do not seek vengeance. We do not raise weapons in hate. We raise our voices in truth. The world must know: The silence surrounding these atrocities is deafening. Where is the international community? Where are the protectors of human rights? Where is the justice for children executed in front of their parents? For mothers who have buried their sons? For holy men who were dishonored in their homes? This is a call for action – not tomorrow, but today. We, the Druze, are few in number but strong in spirit. We are not asking for privilege. We are demanding protection. Recognition. Intervention. *Sheikh Dr. Kasem Bader is a Druze leader, President and Founder of the Universal Peace Council for Human Rights.
Memri
4 days ago
- Politics
- Memri
Syrian Soldier Wearing ISIS Patch Says Before Entering Druze City Of Sweida: We Will Purify The City Of Druze Filth
On July 16, 2025, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR) published on its Facebook page a video showing a Syrian soldier wearing an ISIS patch on his body armor. In the video, the soldier said that the Ansar Al‑Tawhid Brigades of the Syrian 82nd Division were preparing to enter the Druze city of Sweida in order to "purify it" from what he called the "filth" of Druze leader Hikmat Al‑Hijri and his followers. Syrian Soldier: "In the name of Allah, the Merciful, and Compassionate, prayers and salutations upon our Prophet and Muhammad. Right now, the Ansar Al-Tawhid Brigades of the 82nd Division are preparing to enter the city of Sweid, in order to purify it from the filth of [Druze leader Hikmat] Al-Hiiri and his followers. Oh Allah, give us success."
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Israel launches strikes on weapons in Syria
Israel said it had launched strikes on weapons belonging to Syria, hours after reports that two projectiles had been fired from Syria into Israel on Tuesday. The Israeli strikes on southern Syria caused "significant human and material losses", Syria's foreign ministry said, adding that Israel was "trying to destabilise the region". Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he held Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa responsible for the projectiles launched into Israel. Despite recent indirect talks to ease tensions between the two countries, Israel has stepped up attacks on targets in Syria since Sharaa led a rebel offensive that overthrew Bashar al-Assad's regime in December 2024. "Violent explosions shook southern Syria, notably the town of Quneitra and the Daraa region, following Israeli aerial strikes," said the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group. In a statement, Syria's foreign ministry said: "This escalation constitutes a blatant violation of Syrian sovereignty and aggravates tensions in the region. "Syria has never been and will never be a threat to anyone in the region." It was unclear how many people were killed or injured in Israel's strikes. Israel said the strikes came after two projectiles launched from Syria landed in open areas of the country, causing no injuries. Israeli media reported that the strikes were the first launched from Syria since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime. It was not immediately clear who fired the projectiles. "We consider the president of Syria directly responsible for any threat and fire toward the State of Israel," Katz said. Syria's foreign ministry said reports of the launches from inside Syria "have not been verified yet". When the Assad regime was deposed, Israel launched a wave of attacks to degrade Syrian military infrastructure. It has also encouraged the expansion of settlements in the occupied Golan Heights, territory which Israel seized from Syria in 1976 and is considered illegally occupied under international law. Last month, US President Donald Trump announced plans to lift decade-old sanctions on Syria, imposed in response to atrocities committed by forces loyal to Assad during a 13-year civil war. During that conflict, more than 600,000 people were killed and 12 million others were forced from their homes. Last month, Israel bombed an area near Syria's presidential palace in Damascus, a strike which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said was a "clear message" that it would "not allow the deployment of forces south of Damascus". UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the bombing was a "violation of Syria's sovereignty".
Shafaq News
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Gunmen kill woman in Damascus nightclub attack
Shafaq News/ On Sunday, armed assailants killed a woman in a nightclub in Damascus, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR) reported. The gunmen opened fire indiscriminately, killing a female dancer and injuring others. The assailants fled the scene, and no group has claimed responsibility. Local sources told Shafaq News the assault came after complaints from residents living near the venue. The incident occurred just hours after the Syrian Ministry of Interior announced the arrest of several individuals involved in a separate April 29 attack on another nightclub in central Damascus. Surveillance footage from that incident showed armed men affiliated with security forces assaulting patrons, including women, using rifle butts. العصابات المتفلتة فى #سوريا تهاجم ملهى ليلي وتعتدى بالضرب على المرتادين .🔷 هذا يدل على الهمجية والغوغائية فى التعامل مع الأحداث , كان من الممكن إصدار تعميم على كافة #الملاهى_الليلية إغلاق أبوابها وعدم إحياء ليالي السهر.🔶 ثم هل يحتاج الأمر لكل هذه الإعداد للهجوم على الملهى ؟ — Marcel Naser (@MilanoSt916) May 4, 2025
The National
12-03-2025
- Politics
- The National
Civilian death toll mounts in Syria's Alawite heartland despite end of government offensive
Pro-government forces have executed at least 17 Alawite civilians in coastal Syria since authorities on Monday announced the end of military operations in the region that resulted in mass killings of non-combatants, residents and activists said. The continuation of arbitrary killings indicates a lack of protection in the area, to where many of the Alawite minority in urban centres in the interior fled when it became apparent in December that former president Bashar Al Assad would fall. Syria's new government called off the campaign to spread control throughout the west coast after 1,383 civilians, the vast majority of them Alawites, were killed in the four-day offensive, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights estimates. It was one of the largest killing sprees since the civil war started in 2011 after peaceful demonstrations demanding the removal of the Assad regime. Mr Al Assad was eventually ousted on December 8 last year as a result of a brief offensive led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), the group formerly linked with Al Qaeda, now in control of the government in Damascus. A physics teacher in the Amara neighbourhood of Jableh, a mixed city on the Mediterranean that also has Sunni inhabitants, said militiamen entered the district on Monday night, after the government announced military operations had ended. They stormed houses, took ten men, then shot them in the street. 'They left the women and children," the teacher said. "Some of them appeared to be Chechen. We did not understand what they were saying." Foreign fighters have been a component of HTS-raids in the area, which started in December, to disarm former Assad loyalists and seize what the government calls regime remnants, particularly former senior officers and those suspected of committing atrocities. However, the HTS-led forces had been facing increased resistance, including ambushes that prompted the government to pour thousands of security personnel and auxiliaries into the coastal area last week. The deployment ushered in a new phase of the campaign, with the attacking forces bombing urban neighbourhoods and villages into submission, with seemingly little regard for civilian casualties, before sending in infantry brigades to seize control. Ahmad Al Zuaiter, an Alawite who spent years as a political prisoner over his opposition to the Assad regime, said five people were taken from their homes in Hureison village on Tuesday and executed. Other sources put the death toll at 21 in Hureison alone, with houses having been burnt by the militiamen, who withdrew from the village on Wednesday. Bodies were found several hours later scattered around the area, which is located on the M1 motorway, south of the city of Baniyas. "A sweet maker and his brother were among the dead," Mr Al Zuaiter said. Another set of brothers were also executed, he added. A shopkeeper said two of his relatives were killed in the nearby village of Qurfays. He said he was among the many to have fled their homes in the area since last week to the Alawite Mountains overlooking the west coast. "We are surviving [mainly] on what the wilderness is providing," he said. Many in the community regard the ascendancy of HTS to power as a mortal threat to the Alawites' existence, after dominating power in Syria from 1963 until the Assad regime's downfall last year. Ahmad Al Shara, Syria's new interim President and the leader of HTS, has appointed a committee to investigate the recent bloodshed on the coast but he blamed regime remnants for the violence. On Thursday, senior UN official Stephane Dujarric said the organisation is concerned about "escalating tensions among communities in Syria." All parties must "protect civilians and stop inflammatory rhetoric and actions", he said.
