SYRIAN officials and Druze leaders have announced a new ceasefire after days of violent clashes, but Israel has continued its airstrikes after intervening.
In its third day of attacks on Syria, Israel bombed the country’s capital, Damascus, hitting the defence ministry and areas near the presidential palace, killing a number of people and injuring dozens.
Israel says it carried out to protect the Druze minority and prevent hostile forces from gaining ground near its borders.
Clashes between Sunni Bedouins and Druze civilians have escalated in recent days, centred in the city of Sweida, with Syrian government troops deployed to the area.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the death toll had risen to 360 by Thursday morning.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio announced late on Wednesday that all parties, including Israel, had agreed to a ceasefire.
Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, in footage on state television early on Thursday, called the Druze an integral part of Syria and denounced Israel’s actions as sowing division.
“We affirm that protecting your rights and freedoms is among our top priorities,” he said, specifically addressing Druze people in Syria.
“We reject any attempt — foreign or domestic — to sow division within our ranks. We are all partners in this land, and we will not allow any group to distort the beautiful image that Syria and its diversity represent.”
Druze religious leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou condemned Israel’s air strikes on central Damascus, stating: “Any attack on the Syrian state is an attack on the Druze community."
Jarbou said the agreement enjoyed broad support within the majority-Druze city of Suwayda in southern Syria and expressed his hope that the Syrian state would overcome the obstacles posed by attempts to disrupt it.
