Syrian government forces deployed Tuesday in the majority-Druze city of Sweida, in southern Syria, in a clear bid by the Islamist authorities to extend their authority to a city previously controlled by local fighters.
Why did the authorities make this decision, and what are the consequences?
How did it all start?
Clashes broke out Sunday between Druze groups and local Sunni Bedouin tribes, whose relations have been tense for decades, leaving around a 100 dead since then.
Government forces sent reinforcements to the region, stating that their aim was to restore security there.
Druze groups and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said government forces, backed by other fighters including Bedouins, on Monday took control of several localities that the Druze had held on the outskirts of Sweida.
On Tuesday, following talks between authorities and Sweida’s elders, the defense ministry declared a cease-fire and announced the deployment of troops within the city itself.
Until then, Sweida, which has a population of about 150,000, was held by fighters from several Druze factions.
The foremost Druze religious leaders — three in number, with sometimes differing positions — called on fighters in the morning not to put up resistance and to hand over their weapons.
But one of them, the influential Sheikh Hikmat al-Hejri, later made a U-turn, accusing the government of failing to honor its promise to enter Sweida peacefully. He called on fighters to "resist the barbaric campaign" of the security forces.
Residents of the city, terrified, have reported numerous abuses since the entry of government troops and their allies: executions, looting and houses set on fire.
What’s next for Druze groups?
The new Islamist authorities, who came to power after toppling Bashar al-Assad in December, had demanded the dissolution of all armed groups and their integration into the defense ministry’s forces.
During the civil war (2011-2024), which began when Assad cracked down on a peaceful uprising, the Druze formed their own armed groups and sought to keep their Sweida stronghold out of the fighting.
The two main Druze armed groups, the Men of Dignity Movement and the Mountain Brigade, said in January that they were prepared to comply with the new authorities’ decision to join the armed forces.
They had, however, requested to "constitute a military and security entity made up of sons of Sweida" that would control the city under the authorities’ supervision.
"The state was slow to implement the agreement," Men of Dignity Movement spokesperson Bassem Fakhr told AFP.
Besides the Druze, Kurds who control vast territories in the north have a potent fighting force, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and are negotiating with Damascus over their integration into the armed forces.
The Druze are believed to number around 700,000 in Syria, about 3 percent of the population. This esoteric community, which descends from a branch of Islam, is viewed with suspicion by the extremist Sunni movement from which the new authorities, led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, have emerged.
Why is Israel intervening?
The Druze are spread mainly between Syria, Lebanon and Israel.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Israel, through leaders of the Druze community living there, has made multiple overtures to Syrian Druze.
It has sent them humanitarian supplies and allows delegations of religious dignitaries to travel to Israel on pilgrimages, despite the state of war between the two countries.
In March, Israel said it wished to defend the Druze following skirmishes in the Damascus suburbs. Still, these remarks were immediately rejected by the Druze dignitaries, who reaffirmed their commitment to Syrian unity.
Since Monday, Israeli airstrikes have targeted Syrian forces' positions in the Sweida region. "We will not allow harm to come to the Druze in Syria. Israel will not remain idle," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned.
"We are acting to prevent the Syrian regime from harming them [the Druze] and to ensure the demilitarization of the area adjacent to our border with Syria," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister said in a joint statement Tuesday.
