Syria: Renewed clashes in Sweida as armed tribes battle Druze

Arutz Sheva ^ | 19/7/25

[Eleutheria5]

Fierce fighting broke out once again Friday in Syria’s Druze-majority Sweida region as armed Bedouin tribal factions, backed by Syria’s Islamist-led interim government, clashed with local Druze fighters at the city’s entrance, AFP reported.

The confrontation follows the Syrian army’s Thursday withdrawal from Sweida after Israeli airstrikes and intense diplomatic pressure. Following the latest outburst, Syria’s government announced on Friday evening that it will redeploy forces to the area.

The conflict has already claimed at least 638 lives since Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The United Nations has demanded an end to the "bloodshed" and an "independent, prompt and transparent investigation into all violations." UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk emphasized that "the protection of all people must be the utmost priority."

Renewed hostilities erupted as some 200 tribal fighters engaged Druze combatants in street-level exchanges using machine guns and shells, while shelling struck city neighborhoods, SOHR and AFP reported.

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TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; Syria; War
KEYWORDS: bedouins; druze; julani; sweida

[Eleutheria5]

Another day in paradise.

[House Atreides]

The local Druze population in southern Syria should simply declare independence, evict the relatively small number of non-Druze Arabs in the area and have Israel annex the territory. The Sunnis and Bedouins will continue their genocide against the Druze (and Christians) and the current Syrian government will turn a blind eye to the murders.

[jjotto]

Unverified, but there is a claim that clans in Jordan are preparing to fight against the Druze in Syria.

Perhaps in the context of Iran’s attempt to make Jordan another proxy combatant against Israel. Explosive!

[Eleutheria5]

This is my pet project executing itself: EMA, The Eastern Minorities Alliance. Druze have their own state hard up against the Israeli border. Coptic Christians do the same on the Israel-Egypt border. India provides finance.

[Eleutheria5]

Then there are the Islamic minorities, such as Kurds, Ahwazis and Alawites, as well as Christian Armenians, Greeks, and pagans and Christians in South Sudan, and the Yazidis (semi-Zoroastrian pacifists in Syria and Iraq). They can all fit into the puzzle somewhere.