Israel threatens with strikes unless Syrian forces withdraw from Suwayda

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has warned that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will continue targeting Syrian government troops unless they withdraw from the Druze-majority city of Suwayda, where deadly clashes have been ongoing for days.

“The Syrian regime must leave the Druze in Sweida [Suwayda] alone and withdraw its forces. As we have made clear and warned, Israel will not abandon the Druze in Syria and will enforce the demilitarization policy we have decided on,” Katz said in a statement issued on July 16, Caliber.Az reports via Israeli media.

“The IDF will continue to strike regime forces until they withdraw from the area, and will soon escalate its response against the regime if the message is not understood,” he added.

Katz’s remarks came as fresh clashes erupted on the morning of July 16 between Syrian government forces and local Druze armed groups, shattering a ceasefire that had been announced the previous day.

The violence, which began on July 13, has engulfed Suwayda, a predominantly Druze city in southern Syria, following a series of tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes. The abduction of a Druze merchant on July 11 along the Damascus-Suwayda highway reportedly helped ignite the current wave of violence, witnesses told Reuters.

Despite a truce declared by the Syrian government on July 15, the fighting quickly resumed, as Israel launched further strikes on Syrian forces.

“The situation had spiralled out of control once again,” reported Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid from Damascus.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said that more than 250 people have been killed since the outbreak, including four children, five women, and 138 soldiers and security personnel. It also reported that at least 21 people were executed in the field.

By Sabina Mammadli