Syria’s interim president has condemned Israel for “wide-scale targeting of civilian and government facilities” after the Israeli military struck Damascus on Wednesday as it sought to intervene in clashes between the Syrian army and Druze fighters.
Israel’s strikes would have pushed “matters to a large-scale escalation, except for the effective intervention of American, Arab, and Turkish mediation, which saved the region from an unknown fate”, Ahmed al-Sharaa said in his first televised statement since the attacks.
Sharaa went on to say protecting Druze citizens and their rights is “our priority” after clashes in the southern city of Sweida left more than 350 people dead according to a war monitor.
Israel’s airstrikes on Wednesday blew up part of Syria’s defence ministry and hit near the presidential palace. A spokesperson for the Israeli military said the strike on the defence ministry had been a message to the Syrian president “regarding the events in Sweida”. The Israeli military struck Syrian tanks on Monday and has continued to conduct dozens of drone strikes on troops, killing some soldiers.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said on X that an agreement had been reached to restore calm in the area and urged “all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made”, without elaborating on the nature of the agreement.
Rubio blamed “historic longtime rivalries” for the clashes in Sweida. “It led to an unfortunate situation and a misunderstanding, it looks like, between the Israeli side and the Syrian side,” Rubio told reporters in the White House.
On Wednesday, the Syrian government and one of the three spiritual leaders of the Syrian Druze community announced a ceasefire. It was unclear if the truce would hold, however, as another spiritual leader, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, vowed to keep fighting, calling the government a collection of “armed gangs”.
Syria said its army had begun to withdraw from Sweida, after the US call for government forces to leave the majority-Druze southern city. The Syrian government statement did not mention any withdrawal of other government security forces, which had deployed to the city on Tuesday with the stated aim of overseeing a previous truce agreed with Druze community leaders after days of deadly fighting with local Bedouin tribes.
Sharaa said in his televised address that those responsible for violence against Druze people would be held accountable as the Druze “are under the protection and responsibility of the state”. He added that “responsibility” for security in Sweida would be handed over to elders and local factions.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the 350 killed in Sweida province violence included government forces, local fighters and 27 Druze civilians killed in “summary executions”.
Diplomats said the UN security council would meet on Thursday to address the Syrian conflict.
The clashes this week pitting mostly Sunni government forces against Druze fighters have prompted fears of a wider sectarian conflict. The violence is the most serious challenge to Damascus’s rule since the coastal massacres and has threatened to further push away everyday Druze from the state.
The Syrian army entered Sweida on Sunday in an attempt to restore calm between Druze fighters and Arab Bedouin tribes. Some Druze militias have vowed to prevent Syrian government forces entering Sweida and have attacked them, leading to escalating clashes.
As government forces entered Sweida, accounts of human rights abuses began to emerge.
Israel’s attacks on Wednesday marked a significant escalation against Sharaa’s Islamist-led administration. They came despite his warming ties with the US and his administration’s evolving security contacts with Israel.
After calls in Israel to help Druze in Syria, scores of Israeli Druze broke through the border fence on Wednesday, linking up with Druze on the Syrian side, a Reuters witness said.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the Israeli military was working to help the Druze and urged Israeli Druze citizens not to cross the border. The Israeli military said it was working to safely return civilians who had crossed.
With reporting from Reuters and Agence France-Presse
