Sectarian violence in the predominantly Druze city has resumed in force with deaths reported in the dozens.
Fighting between Druze armed groups and government troops has continued in the southern Syrian city of Suwayda, with a ceasefire in tatters, as Israel launched further strikes on Syrian forces and warned it would escalate unless they withdrew.
The sectarian violence in the predominantly Druze city resumed in force on Wednesday, despite the announcement of a ceasefire by the Syrian government the previous night, Syria’s defence ministry told Al Jazeera. Ministry officials blamed groups “outside the law” for breaking the ceasefire and attacking government troops, who they said were responding to fire while taking into account rules of engagement to protect civilians.
Speaking from Damascus, Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid said that following Tuesday’s ceasefire announcement, the situation had “spiralled out of control once again”.
He said at least 70 people were believed to have been killed in the fighting so far, while the U.K.-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that more than 250 people had been killed, as of Wednesday morning, including four children, five women and 138 soldiers and security forces. The observatory added that at least 21 people were killed in “field executions.”
“The situation on the ground is [in] that the city centre itself there are sporadic clashes, but on the outskirts there’s a lot of fighting that has been happening between these Druze fighters and [government] forces,” Bin Javaid said.
On top of the clashes on the ground, Israel, which sees the Druze minority as a potential ally and has been attacking Syria under the pretext of protecting the group, has continued its air strikes on Syrian troop positions around Suwayda, with at least seven strikes launched on Wednesday, he said.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday warned the Syrian government on to leave the Druze alone and withdraw its forces from Suwayda, or it would ramp up its strikes.
“As we have made clear and warned — Israel will not abandon the Druze in Syria and will enforce the demilitarisation policy we have decided on,” he said, adding that it would escalate its activity “if the message is not understood.”
Syria has condemned Israel’s intervention as a violation of international law as have several Arab nations.
The outbreak of violence in the southern city on Sunday was triggered by a wave of recent kidnappings and attacks between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze armed groups, including the abduction of a Druze merchant on Friday on the highway linking Damascus to Suwayda, witnesses told the Reuters news agency.
Syria’s Druze population numbers about 700,000, with Suwayda home to the sect’s largest community. Bedouin and Druze factions have a longstanding feud in Suwayda, with violence occasionally erupting.
Bin Javaid said that tensions in the latest outbreak of violence had been inflamed by material of killings and abuses posted on social media. “That created a flurry of reaction… from both sides,” he said.
Since the overthrow of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, concerns have been raised over the rights and safety of minorities under the new authorities, who have also struggled to re-establish security more broadly.
“Since this government took charge, the Druze have not really accepted them as the government that will look after their aspirations and hopes as well,” said Bin Javaid.
Clashes between troops and Druze fighters in April and May killed dozens of people, with local leaders and religious figures signing agreements to contain the escalation and better integrate Druze fighters into the new government.
The Druze developed their own militias during the nearly 14-year ruinous civil war. Since al-Assad’s fall, different Druze factions have been at odds over whether to integrate with the new government and armed forces.
