ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Thursday delivered a televised address discussing the recent flare-up of violence in the country’s south, vowing that Damascus will protect the region’s Druze community and assigning security duties to local factions and tribal elders.

Violence erupted in the vicinity of Syria’s Suwayda on Sunday, with Bedouin tribal groups clashing with internal security forces in the Druze-majority area.

Syrian security forces were promptly deployed to the region to restore calm; however, witnesses accused government forces of partaking in violence against the religious minority, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) alleging that, of the 79 Druze fighters and 55 civilians that had been killed, 27 of them were in "summary executions by members of the defense and interior ministries."

SOHR on Thursday released figures suggesting that over 350 people have been killed in the clashes since Sunday.

In his address, Sharaa said, "We are keen on holding accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people, as they are under the protection and responsibility of the state," affirming that “Syria will never be a place for division or fragmentation.”

He noted the security arrangements in Suwayda, which were under the purview of local Druze authorities before the violence, would be managed by local factions and religious elders “based on the supreme national interest."

The Syrian president also condemned unilateral Israeli military strikes that Tel Aviv claims it carried out in support of the Syrian Druze community, adding that Damascus restrained itself from responding in the interest of stability.

“We were faced with two choices: open war with the Israeli entity at the expense of our Druze people and their security, destabilizing Syria and the entire region, or allowing Druze notables and sheikhs to come to their senses and prioritize the national interest,” Sharaa said.

“We prioritized the interests of Syrians over chaos and destruction,” he continued, also thanking the US, Arab states, and Turkey for their assistance in mediating an end to hostilities. 

The Druze are a religious minority that lives in Syria and other parts of the Levant, subscribing to an Abrahamic faith and calling themselves al-Muwahiddun (the monotheists). Their beliefs share numerous similarities with other Abrahamic religions. Druze religious tenets emphasize divine unity, a belief in reincarnation, and the eternal nature of the soul.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the rebel group that spearheaded a December offensive that saw former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad deposed, now comprises the bulk of the Syrian military. HTS leader and current Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa sparked concerns amongst the international community upon his ascension to power due to his former ties with the al-Qaeda extremist organization. However, his administration has repeatedly promised inclusive and tolerant rule for all ethnic and religious minorities in the country.

Despite these vows of inclusivity, Syrian security forces in March carried out an extensive campaign of "public executions" against the minority Alawites in the coastal regions of the west of the country, killing over 1,700 men, women, and children.

A wave of sectarian killings targeting the Druze in the suburbs of Damascus in late April left over 100 people dead, with the violence being triggered by a fabricated audio clip purporting to show a Druze cleric blaspheming the Prophet Muhammad, drawing the ire of Sunni militias.