US EditionSyria’s Druze Find Bodies in the Streets While Searching for Loved Ones After Days of Clashes
SWEIDA PROVINCE, SYRIA, JUL 17 – More than 350 people have died in clashes rooted in long-standing Druze-Bedouin tensions, with Israeli strikes targeting Syrian regime forces to protect the Druze minority, officials said.
- Syrian government forces withdrew overnight on July 16 from the Druze-majority city of Sweida after days of deadly clashes.
- The withdrawal followed violent confrontations between local Druze militias and Bedouin tribes that began on July 13 and escalated after government intervention.
- Residents emerged to widespread destruction including looted shops, burned homes, bodies on streets, and a central hospital put out of service after clashes with government forces.
- A Britain-based monitoring group reported that the death toll has exceeded 350, with hospital officials counting more than 150 bodies amid dire conditions described by witnesses as a humanitarian disaster in Sweida.
- The clashes highlighted the new Syrian government's struggle to consolidate control and drew regional and international involvement including Israeli airstrikes and calls for calm by Druze leaders.
68 Articles
68 Articles
The Columbian
Syria’s Druze find bodies in the streets while searching for loved ones after days of clashes
JARAMANA, Syria — A Syrian Druze woman living in the United Arab Emirates frantically tried to keep in touch with her family in her hometown in southern Syria as clashes raged there over the past days. Read more...
Tensions between Druze and Bedouin in southern Syria are once again turning violent. Government security forces are on standby in the region. Israel, the Druze's protector, appears willing to tolerate this—at least temporarily.
Israel conducts strikes near Syria's Sweida. Here's why Netanyahu attacked Druze-majority city
Israel this week launched multiple attacks on Syria in a bid to protect the latter's 'Druze' minority. These attacks come at a time when a conflict is underway between Druze and Bedouin communities on Syria's southern border. The Israeli forces have also attacked Syria's Sweida, a Druze majority city in the Middle East nation. Israel has claimed that it wants to protect the Druze minority in Syria, justifying its strikes on Damascus. Why did Isr…
Al-Monitor
New clashes rock Syria's Druze heartland as tribal fighters reinforce Bedouin
Armed tribes supported by Syria's Islamist-led government clashed with Druze fighters in the community's Sweida heartland on Friday, a day after the army withdrew under Israeli bombardment and diplomatic pressure.The United Nations called for an end to the "bloodshed" and demanded an "independent" investigation of the violence, which has claimed at least 638 lives since Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Regional powers clash after Israel targets Syrian territory in defense of vulnerable Druze civilians
Israel's airstrikes in Syria have transformed a regional crisis into a power struggle involving Iran, Turkey and the U.S., each pursuing different strategic interests.
Hundreds dead after Israel bombs Syria and local clashes erupt
Hundreds of people have been killed in Syria following an escalation in violence involving airstrikes from Israel and local fighting in the southern province of Suweida. The province, home to the country’s Druze minority, has seen a sharp rise in sectarian clashes between Druze and Bedouin tribes and Syrian military action in recent days.
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