Heavy fighting has flared up again between the Druze and Bedouin tribes in Syria’s restive southern province of Suwayda, hours before reports of a ceasefire agreement with Israel.
After the resumption of clashes early on Friday, Syria’s presidency said authorities would deploy a dedicated force to restore calm to the Druze-majority governorate.
“Specialised state bodies are working to deploy forces to de-escalate clashes and resolve the conflict through political and security measures aimed at restoring stability and preventing the return of chaos as quickly as possible,” the presidency said in a statement late on Friday.
Soon after, the United States ambassador to Turkiye, Tom Barrack, said that Israel and Syria had agreed to a ceasefire supported by Turkiye, Jordan and other neighbours.
“We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity,” Barrack said in a post on X on Friday.
Israel on Wednesday carried out heavy air attacks on Suwayda and Syria’s capital, Damascus, claiming it was to protect the Druze minority. Damascus condemned the Israeli attacks as a violation of Syrian sovereignty and an attempt to sow division and chaos in the country.
After a truce agreement was announced late on Wednesday between Syria and some Druze factions, government forces withdrew from the province. Most of the fighting was halted by the agreement, under which Druze factions and scholars would be left to maintain internal security in Suwayda, Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Thursday.
But after the attacks, Bedouins in the province called for the assistance of other Syrian tribes, which led to forces coming in from across the country.
In turn, an Israeli official, who declined to be named, told reporters on Friday that “in light of the ongoing instability in southwest Syria, Israel has agreed to allow limited entry of the [Syrian] internal security forces into Suwayda district for the next 48 hours”.
Hundreds of families evacuated
The United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported renewed clashes west of the southern city on Friday, “pitting tribal fighters and Bedouin supported by the authorities on one side, against Druze fighters on the other”.
The AFP news agency also said fighters on both sides confirmed the exchange of fire to its correspondents.
Separately, footage published online and verified by Al Jazeera documented the sound of clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters in rural Suwayda earlier on Friday. Other verified clips also showed the arrival of reinforcements to support the tribesmen spread throughout the area.
Earlier, a video showed Bedouin tribal leader Abdul Moneim al-Naseef, surrounded by armed tribesmen, issuing a call “to the tribes in all Syrian provinces to head immediately to Suwayda to save our people from massacres and ethnic cleansing”.
The latest violence added to days of deadly clashes involving local armed groups, as well as government forces.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights, a group that documents human rights violations, said 321 people have been killed in and around Suwayda since Sunday.
Raed al-Saleh, Syria’s minister of disaster management and emergency response, said hundreds of families had been evacuated from Suwayda after calls for help from citizens caught up in the violence. More than 570 people wounded are being treated, and the bodies of 87 victims have been recovered, he said on Friday.
‘Dangerous escalation’
Reporting from Damascus, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said the situation represented a “very dangerous escalation” as Syria navigates a fragile post-war transition, following the toppling of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December last year.
“It is an old fault line between Bedouin tribes and some Druze factions, and there have been bouts of violence since the fall of the regime … But this time around, it is a different situation because Bedouin tribes are calling for the state’s intervention,” Khodr said.
“The big question is what will Israel do,” she added, noting that Israel had previously said it would not allow the presence of Syrian government forces in the south.
However, Labib al-Nahhas, a Syrian political analyst, said Israel had now agreed to allow local security forces to enter Suwayda for 48 hours to prevent more violence between the Bedouins and the Druze, as more Bedouin tribes advance to join the fighting.
“[Israel’s] allies are under threat, so they need to intervene and the middle ground solution … is to allow in security forces – not the [Syrian] army, security forces – for a limited period of time to prevent clashes between the Bedouins and the Druze,” he told Al Jazeera.
‘Bloodshed must stop’
Meanwhile, the United Nations Human Rights Office on Friday said credible reports indicate widespread rights violations have been committed by all factions fighting in Suwayda, including summary executions, arbitrary killings, kidnappings, destruction and looting of homes.
Among the reported perpetrators were members of the security forces, government-affiliated elements, as well as Druze and Bedouins, it added.
“This bloodshed and the violence must stop, and the protection of all people must be the utmost priority, in line with international human rights law,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said.
The UN Refugee Agency added it is “very concerned” about the effect of hostilities in Suwayda on its aid operations.
“It is very difficult for us to operate there … at the moment, our capacity to deliver aid is very limited. We are calling on all parties to allow humanitarian access,” spokesperson William Spindler told reporters in Geneva on Friday.
