Unprecedented Clashes Signals Near Escalation In Syria’s Al-Suwayda (Videos)

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Clashes broke out between government forces and Druze fighters across the front in the southern Syrian governorate of al-Suwayda over the night of November 13 and 14, in a sign of growing tensions between the two sides.

The crisis in al-Suwady began in July when an attack by government forces and allied bedouin fighters claimed the lives of over 3,000 people, third of whom were Druze civilians. Israel intervened at the time to protect the Druze, citing its historic ties with its own Druze community.

The battle ended with a ceasefire brokered by the United States, but over 30 Druze towns in the northern and western countryside of al-Suwayda are still held by government forces.

The forces are also believed to be holding hundreds of Druze civilians hostage, allegedly up to 600, and continue to impose a partial blockade on the governorate.

The overnight clashes broke out when government forces attempted to infiltrate Druze defenses, and launched a series of drone strikes.

The clashes took place near the towns of al-Majdal, al-Mazra’a, Atil. Salim. Rima Hazem, Walgha, Tell Hadid, Tell al-Aqra, and Al-Thala in the northern and western countryside of al-Suwayda. The were the most intense since the U.S.-brokered came into effect months ago.

In a statement to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency, a security official said that “outlaw groups” targeted Walgha, Tell al-Aqra, Tell Hadid and al-Mazra’a “with mortar shells and heavy machine guns.”

Five fighters from the National Guard, a coalition of armed groups in al-Suwayda, were reportedly wounded in addition to two Druze civilians as a result of the clashes.

Government forces sustained heavier losses in the clashes, with mixed reports indicating that four or seven troops were killed.

The clashes ended after the office of Muwaffaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of Druze in Israel, issued a statement hinting at a possible intervention by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)

“His Eminence Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif and the Monitoring and Evaluation Center in (the Israeli town of) Julis have been following the ceasefire violations and terrorist attacks on the western axes of Jabal al-Druze (al-Suwayda) since the early evening hours, through direct communication with the Northern Command (of the IDF), the Prime Minister’s Office, and regional countries, with the aim of repelling the attacks and achieving an immediate ceasefire and cessation of the truce violations,” the statement reads.

Talks between the government and the Druze in al-Suwayda have been very much on halt for months. However, work on a security agreement between the government and Israel is reported to be moving forward.

After Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he will judge his government by “what happens on the ground.”

“Does Syria become a peaceful country?” the primer said in an interview with Australian TV personality Erin Molan that was aired on November 13. “Does he weed out the jihadists in his own military? Does he work forward with me to achieve a demilitarized zone in southwest Syria that abuts the Golan Heights?”

“What do we do to secure our Druze brothers, the Syrian Druze brothers of Israel, who were mutilated, massacred, almost as bad as in the October 7th massacre that was conducted by Hamas in Gaza?” he asked.

Netanyahu also said that if there is demilitarization of southwest Syria and permanent protection for the Druze there, “we can move on.”

“When I look at Al-Sharaa, I’m going to look at what is actually being done, what is actually being achieved,” he added.

The escalation by government forces in al-Suwayda may be the start of something bigger. The infiltrations and drone strikes may have been reconnaissance by fire. Sharaa may be planning to attack the governorate in the near future, but only if an agreement with Israel was reached. In such a case, the IDF will not likely intervene.

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