Fighting between the Druze and Bedouins in Syria’s Suwayda Governorate continues to rage, despite the second ceasefire of the week being declared on Wednesday. The toll in the fighting and killing since Sunday is now up to at least 638, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The fighting started Sunday in the Bedouin neighborhood of Maqus, with both sides claiming tit-for-tat kidnappings, eventually leading Druze forces into the area and the locals called nearby Bedouin tribes. That escalated quickly across the governorate, and now both sides are trading blame for respective massacres in the area, and given the enormous death toll it’s not unlikely that both are accurate.
The Bedouins, backed by Syrian government forces, were accused to executing Druze several times in the area, while Syrian state media is reporting a large massacre in a hospital by forces loyal to a Druze cleric. The death tolls overall split among hundreds of civilians, hundreds of combatants, and even hundreds of Syrian Defense Ministry forces that got attacked by Israel when trying to enter the region in defiance of Israel’s “ban” on Syria deploying troops to southern Syria.
Fighting rages in Suwayda Governorate | Image from X
Israel reiterated on Thursday that the ban remained in place, and Prime Minister Netanyahu bragged that the Wednesday ceasefire was only achieved because of Israeli force. Now that the ceasefire seems to be failing, Israel announced on Friday it is allowing Syrian troops to go back to the area for 48 hours to try to tamp down the violence.
Syrian troops are said to be being redeployed. Whether that’s going to actually slow the violence remains to be seen, as the Syrian troops are accused of participating in summary executions and other violence against the Druze.
Fighting in going on outside of the city of Suwayda in nearby villages, with more and more forces massing on each side. The Bedouins are reportedly preparing a counter-attack against Suwayda itself after seizing several towns and villages on the outskirts.
The death toll is likely even higher than is being reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. One hospital in Suwayda alone claims to have received more than 400 bodies since Monday. The actual toll may not ultimately be known for some time, but one thing is clear, it continues to rise and this situation is far from resolved.
