The crisis in Syria is widening with the direct involvement of Israel who has enhanced his attacks in defense of the Druse, even hitting the presidency and headquarters of the Syrian army in Damascus. A chaotic situation within Syria and on the border with Israelwhile the international community asks for the end of violence and abuses against civilians.
For the second consecutive day, Israel He attacked the southern city of Sweida, by majority Drusa, an epicenter of the violence that have already caused 248 deaths since Sunday, involving druses, Bedouins and government forces deployed on site. After threatening to intensify his attacks against the latter, if they hadn’t left Sweida, Israel He bombed the headquarters of the Syrian army in Damascus and the presidential palace, the seat of the new leader Ahmed al-Sharaagoing further on the road to retaliation. THE’IDF He announced that he is preparing for battle days, proposing an even more complex and uncertain picture.
In violation of the ceased the fire, the clashes continued today in Sweida, previously occupied by the local Druse fighters, where the Syrian Islamist regime and his allies took sides with the clear desire to extend their authority. THE’Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (Sohr/OSDH), witnesses and Drusi groups have accused them of numerous abuses, including summary executions of civilians and looting.
According to the NGO, 248 people were killed since the beginning of the clashes on Sunday between Drusi Fighters and Bedouin tribes, who pushed the government forces to intervene alongside the latter. Most of the victims were fighters of both sides, together with 28 Drusian civilians, including “21 summarized” by members of the government forces, according to the NGO based in the United Kingdom.
Israelwhich occupies and has annexed part of the heights of the Syrian Golan, he has reiterated in these days that he will not allow a military presence in southern Syria, near the shared border. The Israeli army “will increase the intensity of his reply against the regime if the message is not received,” said the Minister of Defense Israel Katzasking the Syrian government to “leave the Drusion of Sweida in peace”. “Israel He will not abandon his druses in Syria and impose the politancy policy “in the south of the country announced after the fall of the former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad In December, the minister said.
Following the threats, the Israeli army then hit several symbols of civil and military power in Damascus. Syrian state television reported that two people were injured in the center of the capital, without specifying the exact place. The Israeli army also announced that she had strengthened its troops on the Syrian border and to have identified “dozens of suspects” who tried to cross the border from Syria, in the Hadar area.
The Drusa community in Israel He accused the government and the army of not doing enough to protect “our massacred brothers” in Syria, decreeing a strike and “days of anger”, with immediate effect. Dozens of his representatives have piled up on the border line with Syria, in Golan, and even today they crossed the border in the Majdal Shams area. The IDFwho strengthened the security device, deploying police units, dispersed the group with tear gas, claiming to be committed to bringing him back safely.
The local website Suwayda 24 Meanwhile, he reported “a heavy bombing of artillery and mortar” on the city and its surroundings from dawn. The Syrian Ministry of Defense said that “rebellious groups resumed to attack the army and internal security forces in the city” after the declaration of the ceasefire. “The army continues to respond to the sources of fire in the city,” added the ministry, mentioned by the official press agency Healthyexhorting the residents to stay at home.
One of the most influential religious leaders, the sheikh Hikmat al-Hejriappealed to the President of the United States Donald Trumpto the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “And all those who have influence in the world.” “Save Sweida,” he said, denouncing that “our people are endless and killed in cold blood”. However, the main drusive religious leaders have divergent positions: yesterday the sheikh Hejri He distinguished himself by inviting Drusi fighters not to lay down the weapons.
The deterioration of the crisis in Sweida is a reason for concern for theEuropean Union and for the Francewho deprived the abuses on civilians and asked for the immediate end of the violence.
The Province of Sweida hosts the largest Drusa community in the country, an esoteric minority with roots in Islam which had about 700,000 people in Syria before the civil war and is also present in Lebanon And Israel. The new wave of violence in progress illustrates the challenges that the interim government of Al-sharaa He has to face since, with a coalition of Sunni rebel groups, he has overturned the regime of Bashar al-Assad In December, in a country devastated for almost 14 years of civil war.
The US correspondent: all sides take step back
The special envoy of the United States for Syria, Tom Barrack, invited all the parties to take a step back and engage in dialogue for a ceasefire lasting. After the clashes with the Druse factions in the South and the Israeli attacks in Damascus, Barrack on X wrote: «We unequivocally condemn violence against civilians in Sweida. All parts must take a step back and engage in a significant dialogue that leads to a ceased fire ». His declaration comes while Israel launched aerial attacks at the Syrian presidential palace and the headquarters of the Armed Forces.