Syrian government announces full ceasefire in Sweida

Ceasefire Declared in Sweida After Days of Deadly Clashes

The Syrian presidency has announced an immediate and full ceasefire in Sweida, stating that internal security forces have been deployed in the southern province following nearly a week of fighting in the predominantly Druze region. The clashes have resulted in more than 700 fatalities.

Armed tribal groups engaged in combat with Druze fighters on Friday, a day after Syrian military forces withdrew amid Israeli airstrikes and diplomatic pressure.

In a statement on Saturday, the presidency warned that violating the truce would be a “direct challenge to sovereignty” and called on all sides to comply and cease hostilities immediately.

Syrian security forces were sent to Sweida “to protect civilians and restore stability,” the interior ministry spokesperson Noureddine al-Baba said in an online statement.

A prominent Druze spiritual leader, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, confirmed the ceasefire would allow safe passage for tribal fighters and establish humanitarian routes for trapped civilians.

Earlier, the US envoy said Israel and Syria had agreed to a truce after Israel supported Druze groups and launched strikes, including on a government facility in Damascus.

The UN urged an end to the violence and an impartial investigation into the clashes, which, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, have claimed at least 718 lives since Sunday.

The observatory reported on Friday that Sweida’s humanitarian conditions had worsened drastically due to severe shortages of food and medical aid. All hospitals were non-operational because of the fighting, and widespread looting occurred across the city.

“The hospital is in a dire state. Bodies are decomposing, and there are many casualties, including women and children,” a surgeon at Sweida’s main hospital told CuriosityNews by phone.

The renewed conflict cast doubts on the leadership of Syrian interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose government has faced growing distrust from minority groups after the deaths of 1,500 mainly Alawite civilians on the coast in March.

Sharaa had ordered troops to withdraw from Sweida, citing US-mediated efforts to prevent an escalation with Israel.

Sources indicated that Sharaa had misjudged Israel’s reaction to the military deployment in southern Syria earlier in the week, reportedly encouraged by remarks from the US envoy, who supported a unified Syrian government.

When Israeli strikes hit Syrian troops and Damascus on Wednesday—including the defense ministry and areas near the presidential palace—it reportedly caught Syrian authorities off guard.