ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Clashes have resumed between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes in the southern Druze-majority Syrian province, a day after Damascus withdrew its forces from the region, and following the collapse of two ceasefires in the past week.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported "clashes west of Suwayda pitting tribal fighters and Bedouin supported by the authorities on one side, against Druze fighters on the other.”
The Syrian Defense Ministry has denied reports that government troops are being redeployed in the embattled southern region to end the renewed fighting.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, in the meantime, said he had ordered the transfer of “humanitarian aid” worth $600,00, including food and media equipment, to the Druze community members.
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.
"If the state is unable to maintain security, the tribes will take matters into their own hands,” a tribal chief told Al Jazeera on Friday. "The solution lies in releasing detainees, returning tribes to their villages, and assuming state responsibility."
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.
Under Israel’s mounting pressure, which culminated in striking the Syrian government’s military infrastructure and its forces in Suwayda province in support of the Syrian Druze community, Damascus pulled out of Suwayda. The Syrian presidency, however, late Thursday, accused “outlaw forces”, referring to the Druze fighters, of violating a ceasefire reached between the fighting groups to end the bloody clash.
According to SOHR, nearly 600 people have been killed in clashes in Suwayda since Sunday, including 300 Druze fighters and 257 government personnel.
Who are the Druze?
The Druze are a religious minority that lives in Syria and other parts of the Levant, subscribing to an Abrahamic faith and identifying themselves as al-Muwahhidun (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.
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