Prominent Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri rejected a ceasefire deal.
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
Despite a ceasefire declared on Wednesday night, groups of Druze and Bedouin renewed fighting in southern Syria on Thursday.
Reuters reports that Bedouin sources said they launched attacks against the Druze community.
The rationale for continuing the fighting is that some Bedouin groups said the ceasefire applied only to Syrian forces and not to them.
The Syrian state media, Sana, published video footage of Bedouins fleeing the area of the Al-Maqwas neighborhood of Sweida and claiming that Druze were attacking them.
Prominent Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri rejected a ceasefire deal announced on Tuesday, distancing himself from efforts to halt the fighting in southern Syria.
On Wednesday, Sheikh Yosef Jarboua, another senior Druze figure, claimed that a truce had been reached between the Syrian regime and Druze factions in the Sweida province. The agreement reportedly included regime checkpoints being set up to maintain security in Druze areas.
The latest round of violence began earlier this week after a series of kidnappings triggered clashes between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and armed Druze groups.
Witnesses accused Syrian regime forces, initially deployed to restore order, of turning against the Druze population. Reports included instances of abuse and humiliation, such as forcing Druze men to shave their mustaches—a grave insult in Druze culture.
In response to the attacks on the Druze community, Israel launched retaliatory strikes on Wednesday, targeting sites in As-Suwayda and military installations in Damascus.
Despite the announcement of a ceasefire, tensions remain high, with Al-Hijri’s rejection casting doubt on the viability of any lasting peace.
Israeli Prime Minister praised the ceasefire and said it was brought about through “forceful action.”
He stated that two red lines regarding Syria; that Syria’s military not approach the border with Israel or Druze areas and that the Syrian regime must protect the Druze.
“We have established a clear policy: the demilitarization of the area south of Damascus and the protection of our brothers, the Druze,” Netanyahu said.
“I instructed the IDF to act with force, because the Damascus regime sent its army south of the capital and massacred the Druze. As a result of our intensified action, a ceasefire has been established, and Syrian forces have withdrawn back to Damascus.”
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