Syrian president says unifying country 'should not be with blood'

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has said the battle to unify his country after years of civil war "should not be with blood", rejecting any partition and accusing Israel of meddling in the south.

His remarks, released by state TV on Sunday, came as hundreds demonstrated in south Syria's Suweida province, denouncing sectarian violence last month and calling for the right to self-determination for the Druze-majority province.

"We still have another battle ahead of us to unify Syria, and it should not be with blood and military force... it should be through some kind of understanding because Syria is tired of war," Sharaa said during a dialogue session involving notables from the northwest province of Idlib and other senior officials.

"I do not see Syria as at risk of division. Some people desire a process of dividing Syria and trying to establish cantons... this matter is impossible," he said, according to a recording of the meeting, distributed overnight by state media.

"Some parties seek to gain power through regional power, Israel or others. This is also extremely difficult and cannot be implemented," he said.

At the protest in Suweida, some demonstrators waved the Israeli flag and called for self-determination for the region.

A week of bloodshed in Suweida began on 13 July with clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin, but rapidly escalated, drawing in government forces, with Israel also carrying out strikes.

Syrian authorities have said their forces intervened to stop the clashes, but witnesses, Druze factions and observers have accused them of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses against the Druze, including summary executions.

Sharaa said that Suweida "witnessed many violations from all sides... some members of the security forces and army in Syria also carried out some violations".

The state is required "to hold all perpetrators of violations to account", whatever their affiliation, he added.

"Israel is intervening directly in Suweida, seeking to implement policies aimed at weakening the state in general or finding excuses to interfere in ongoing policies in the southern region," Sharaa said.

Israel, which has its own Druze community, has claimed it has acted to defend the minority group as well as enforce its demands for the demilitarisation of southern Syria.

Syria's new authorities are also in talks with a semi-autonomous Kurdish administration that runs swathes of the country's north and northeast and has called for decentralisation, which Damascus has rejected.

Implementation of a 10 March deal on integrating the Kurds' semi-autonomous civil and military institutions into the state has been held up by differences between the parties.

"We are now discussing the mechanisms for implementation" of the deal, Sharaa said.