Illustrative image. (Syrian Arab News Agency)
Druze fighters, led by the al-Suwayda Military Council and the Men of Dignity, recaptured the key town of Umm al-Zaytun from tribal forces loyal to Syria’s Islamist-led interim government on July 25.
The fighters entered Umm al-Zaytun, located in the northern al-Suwayda in the morning. Later in the afternoon, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported a series of violations by tribal forces, which targeted the town with mortars and heavy machine guns.
The escalation came just a day after a meeting between Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs Ronald Dermer and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in France. United States special envoy Tom Barrack announced the meeting.
“I met this evening with the Syrians and Israelis in Paris. Our goal was dialogue and de-escalation, and we accomplished precisely that. All parties reiterated their commitment to continuing these efforts,” Barrack tweeted late July 24. There was no immediate confirmation from either Syrian or Israeli officials.
The situation in al-Suwayda was reportedly the focus of the meeting. The governorate witnessed a fierce battle earlier this month with the government dispatching large forces to disarm Druze fighters there. What unfolded later was a series of war crimes targeting Druze civilians that provoked an Israeli intervention, and an attack by pro-government forces that further complicated the situation.
SOHR reported that an agreement was reached during the meeting, under which government forces, which are still present in some parts of al-Suwayda northern and western countryside, would withdraw and the Druze will be granted a self-administration. These claims are yet to be confirmed by any official sources from Israel or Syria.
Israel had vowed to protect the Druze following the fall of the Assad regime last year citing its close relations with its own Druze community.
The battle in al-Suwayda has so far claimed the lives of 1,386 people, according to the SOHR, which said that 238 were Druze civilians executed by government forces.
Besides the high death toll, the battle also resulted in the displacement of all Bedouin civilians from al-Suwayda. Late on July 24, the last batch was evacuated from the governorate.
All in all, the clashes in Umm al-Zaytun indicate that the battle is not over yet. Tribal forces are yet to withdraw and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu renewed his vow to protect the Druze and demilitarize all of southern Syria in a speech on July 24.
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the illegal flow of arms to the region is supplied by the greater israel pitate cabal . they desire the druze villages and support to stage the planned attack on iran . all of this media theater is for one voice propaganda control .the real mission is for the us-backed israelis to gain full control of the middle eastern energy reserves to the greater israeli sorcorer led corporate mafia .
more fake obvious rhetoric. transparent propagandas. for a start you’re so naive you actually believe the marketing ploy of totally dishonestly pretending energy reserves are scarce they aren’t. and the rest of your rehearsed scripting is also just as fallacious, albeit common amongst your class
its not about securing the resources for themselves, its about being in a position to deny those resources to others, eg china. power comes from controlling the resources at the source, whether you need them or not.
the druze rebelled against the al-assad gov even though it was committed to protecting religious and ethnic minorities, and they have acting as a 5th column within syria for decades. now they will get what is coming to them.
mess around with supporting jihadis and you pay the price for your choice of bedfellows when they turn on you.
no sympathy.
the un made it compulsory for all of the world to protect freedom of religion in around 1968.it had nothing to do with assad its the law. and they did that following california legalising the worship of satan in 1966.
don’t be stupid. assad was a member of an ethnic and religious minority, so it made perfect sense for his gov to protect all similar groups. the west has thrown syria to the cannibals out of pure spite and malice, and they shopuld be deeply ashamed of themselves (but of course they aren’t, becuase psychopaths have no empathy or sense of guilt).
it would make sense for israel to strive for a government composed of kurdish peshmerga and druze. it makes no sense that netanyahu, in his envy of assad, brought the turks to israel’s doorstep. but jealousy because israelis didn’t like netanyahu is a big problem, and now israel has the turks on its doorstep.
hts is obligated to do this under international law, and if an honest and just us president comes, he will destroy damascus.
there is no evidence that the israelis are actually afraid not of the hts-turkey alliance. if netanyahu is not afraid of the danger from turkey and hts, he is a plain crazy psychopath and the mossad should kill him. and why wouldn’t israel want to be bigger by one sweida? ghassan alian, for example, why do you think he works in the idf? do you think there is any other job for a druze than being an idf soldier or a worker in an israeli field? anyway, i think israel needs the druze.
putler left syria to fight barbarically against ukraine. al-assad had to rely on himself because the traitors in iran couldn’t save him. hezbollah had their d*cks butchered by isra*elites*.