Truce stability, however, is still uncertain
SAO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS)-The Ministry of Defense announced a ceasefire in the southern region of the country on Tuesday (15), after negotiations started the day before they were able to reach an agreement in relation to combat between Drusos and Bedouins that left more than 100 dead in two days. The stability of the truce, however, is still uncertain.
After the announcement, a statement from Drusa religious authorities appealed for the combatants to deliver the weapons without resistance, but the influential check of the Hikmat al-Hajri minority was in the opposite direction and issued a statement accusing Damascus of violating the ceasefire, installing fighters to confront the government, of which he is an opponent.
“We are being subjected to a total extermination war,” he said in a recorded video statement, calling all the Drudos “facing this Barbara campaign with all available means.”
Difficulties in the truce reveal one of the government’s main challenges of Ahmed Al-Sharaa, a former member of a group linked to the Islamic State and the al Qaeda who took power after the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad in December. In addition to trying to convince the international community that he has become a moderate leader, he needs to deal with the Mosaic complex of ethnicities and religions that forms the nation of the Middle East and historical rivalry with Israel.
According to the OSDH (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights), a UK -based NGO, armed clashes and bombing in different areas of the province mostly Sweida Druse killed 116 people in 48 hours – 64 druses, including two children and two women, and 52 Bedouins and members of security forces.
According to the organization, the violence began after the kidnapping of a vegetable seller by Beduinos, leading the clashes to the provincial capital for the first time. The tension at the site increased after April, when Sunni fighters and armed Drudos residents faced each other. At the time, the province’s Sunni tribes aligned with the security forces.
After the weekend incident, the government decided to enter Sweida. An AFP correspondent observed on Tuesday military heading to the city center and a artillery displacement around the site. In the afternoon, the Syrian government forces took control of Al Mazraah, a Druse village located on the outskirts of Sweida, according to the news agency.
Amid the internal conflict, Israel, who has attacked Syria in recent months under the pretext of protecting the Druses, has launched a new offensive against government forces. According to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, the attacks are “a clear warning to the Syrian regime.” “We will not allow Syria’s druses to be harmed,” he said.
In a statement, he and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated that the presence of Syrian government forces in Sweida violated a demilitarization policy that calls for the abstention of forces and weapons in the south of the country representing a threat to Tel Aviv.
“Israel is committed to avoiding damage to the Druses in Syria due to the profound brotherhood covenant with our Druse citizens in Israel,” they said. “We are acting to prevent the Syrian regime from harming them and to ensure the demilitarization of the area adjacent to our border with Syria.”
A news agency reporter Reuters heard at least four attacks while drones flew over the city and saw a damaged tank being towed. He also heard gusts, saw three bodies on the floor, and witnessed men in military costumes burning and looting houses and stores and setting fire to an establishment that sold alcohol.
