Uncertainty over Suweida ceasefire as Israel escalates attacks on Syria

A ceasefire announced on Wednesday by the Syrian government and a Druze religious official to end four days of sectarian violence in southern Syria was thrown into uncertainty after another Druze leader called for the fighting to continue.

Syria's interior ministry and Druze Sheikh Yousef Jarbou said the two sides had agreed to end the violence, a few hours after Israel launched multiple airstrikes against government targets in Damascus.

"The interior ministry announced that a ceasefire has been agreed upon and the deployment of security barriers inside Suweida and its full integration within the Syrian state," the ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA.

In a video message, Jarbou said there had been an agreement to re-integrate the de facto autonomous Druze-majority region into national institutions and allow government forces to secure roads in the area.

The announcement was undercut almost immediately by the Druze Spiritual Presidency, led by Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, which urged militia to continue fighting pro-government forces until the region is "fully liberated".

In a statement, it called on Druze armed groups to "continue confronting the criminal armed terrorist gangs that have come to destroy our people and annihilate our existence".

A similar truce announced on Tuesday collapsed after only a few hours. A witness told Reuters that clashes continued in Suweida after the declaration was made.

The developments came as Israel sharply escalated its attacks against the Syrian military, under the pretext of "protecting" the Druze community.

Israeli warplanes launched a series of airstrikes on the Defence Ministry headquarters in downtown Damascus, killing three people and injuring 18 others, according to the Syrian health ministry.

This came hours after Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened to widen strikes against the Syrian military unless it pulls its forces out of Suweida, where they have intervened in the ongoing sectarian violence between Druze and Bedouin militias.

"The IDF will continue to attack regime forces until they withdraw from the area and will soon raise the bar if the message is not understood," Israeli media quoted Katz as saying on Wednesday.

Axios reported hours earlier that the US had asked Israel to de-escalate and received assurances it would end its attacks on Tuesday evening.

Israel says it's 'protecting' Druze

Israeli warplanes have launched a wave of airstrikes against Syrian forces around Suweida over the past two days, hitting military vehicles and gatherings of pro-government forces.

Fresh attacks were reported in Suweida and in the neighbouring Daraa province on Wednesday morning, despite Israel telling the US it would halt its attacks on Syria.

At least 20 members of the security forces have been killed in the strikes, military sources told The New Arab's sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed on Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Gaza, and his defence minister said Tuesday they instructed the military to bomb Syrian targets in response to "prevent harm to the Druze".

The Israeli military said it had been told to strike "regime forces and weapons that were brought into the Suweida area".

Since the Islamist-led government came to power in December, Israel has threatened on several occasions to intervene in Syria on the pretext of protecting the Druze.

However, its interventions have been widely viewed as an attempt to destabilise the country.

Officials, including the Israeli foreign minister, have declared ambitions to fragment the country along sectarian lines.

'Ghost town'

Fighting continued for a fourth day in Suweida and the surrounding countryside on Wednesday morning as Syrian forces clashed with local armed groups.

The city and nearby villages were under continuous shelling by pro-government forces, which were engaged in battles with armed groups.

One resident of Suweida described the city as a "ghost town".

"No-one goes into the streets, no-one has access to hospitals", they told Al Araby Al Jadeed.

Pro-government forces have been accused of committing abuses against civilians after entering the city on Tuesday, with eyewitness reports alleging summary executions, sectarian killings, and arson attacks.

Unverified videos circulating on social media appeared to show the aftermath of civilian killings in the province.

Druze divisions

There have been divisions among the Druze leadership about how to respond to the government's push into Suweida and how to manage their relationship with Damascus more broadly.

Since assuming power, the government has been in talks with Druze leaders about reintegrating the semi-autonomous region into national institutions such as the military, though the negotiations are yet to bear fruit.

Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri - one of the three Druze spiritual leaders in the province – has long argued for minimal ties with Damascus and described the current violence as a "comprehensive war of extermination" against the Druze.

Other factions, including the Men of Dignity, have expressed willingness to join the army and cooperate with the government.

The Men of Dignity – one of the largest Druze armed groups – had been in talks with the government to end the fighting, but on Tuesday evening put out a strongly-worded statement condemning  Damascus for the violence.

The group said more than 50 of its fighters had been killed and injured in the violence, which it described as "the most heinous that has been witnessed in the governorate in more than a century".