CNN
—
Syria says it is withdrawing troops from a flashpoint southern city after days of deadly clashes with an Arab minority group that triggered military action from Israel.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said the country was “not afraid of war” but had chosen to put its people “above chaos and destruction,” after his government announced a new ceasefire with the Druze, an offshoot of Islam whose followers are spread across Syria, Israel and Lebanon.
The truce followed intervention from the US as well as Israeli strikes on the Syrian capital Damascus, with Israel saying it was acting to protect the Druze.
So far, the ceasefire appears to be holding, but it is unclear whether it will last. A previous deal collapsed within hours, and a prominent Druze leader has rejected the new truce.
In a televised address to the nation early Thursday, Sharaa said the Syria was faced with two options: either “an open war” with Israel “at the cost of our Druze citizens,” or allowing Druze clerics “to return to reason and prioritize the national interest.”
He vowed to protect the rights of the Druze, many of whom are leery of Syria’s new rulers, who toppled the previous administration in an Islamist-led insurgency.
Syria said on Wednesday night local time its army started withdrawing from Suwayda, where clashes erupted over the weekend between Druze militia and Bedouin tribes, prompting government forces to intervene. Video on Syrian TV purportedly showed a convoy of military vehicles driving out of Suwayda city.
Israel’s airstrikes on Damascus targeted several government buildings Wednesday, with authorities saying at least three people were killed. One video from a Syrian television channel showed the Ministry of Defense building being hit live on air, forcing the anchor to take cover.
In his address, al-Sharaa accused Israel of trying to divide the Syrian people.
“The Israeli entity, known for its repeated attempts to destabilize us and sow division, once again seeks to turn our land into a battlefield of chaos and to dismantle the fabric of our people,” he said.
Israel has stepped up strikes against Syria despite pressure from the US, which has made moves to end the country’s international isolation following the rebel takeover.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Wednesday said the Trump administration had engaged with all parties of the conflict to end the clashes in Syria.
“We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight. This will require all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made and this is what we fully expect them to do,” Rubio said on X.
Rubio also described the latest tension between Israel and Syria as a “misunderstanding.”
A statement published by the Syrian government said that, under the new ceasefire, there will be a complete halt to military operations, a monitoring committee will be formed with the Druze leaders and members of the community will be leading security in the province.
A Druze spiritual leader representing one of the factions in Suwayda, Youssef Jarbou, confirmed an agreement was reached for a “complete and immediate halt to all military operations and de-escalation from all sides, with the army returning to its barracks.”
However, Hikmat al-Hijri – another leading Druze figure who had asked for international protection on Wednesday – rejected the ceasefire, calling on his supporters to continue fighting, raising doubts over the truce’s longevity.
The Druze, an Arab sect of roughly one million people, practice an offshoot of Islam which permits no converts – either to or from the religion – and no intermarriage. They are made up of a network of groups with multiple figureheads.
In Syria, the Druze community is concentrated around three main provinces close to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in the south of the country, and form a majority in the Suwayda province.
More than 20,000 Druze also live in the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau that Israel seized from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967, before formally annexing it in 1981.
Hundreds of Druze crossed from Israel into Syria this week, apparently responding to pleas from Druze leaders to support their community in the ongoing clashes.
While Israel says its efforts aim to protect Syria’s Druze the country has also been alarmed by the Syrian government and has been trying to shore up its borders by expanding its military footprint in the country.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously referred to the new leaders of the country as an “extremist Islamic regime” and a threat to Israel.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres expressed alarm over the continued escalation of violence in Suwayda, also condemning “Israel’s escalatory airstrikes on Suwayda, Daraa and in the center of Damascus,” and calling for “an immediate cessation of all violations of Syria’s sovereignty.”
At least 169 people have been killed, and 200 others injured during several days of clashes in the south, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said on Wednesday. CNN cannot independently verify the toll.
The violence poses a major challenge to Sharaa as he tries to impose order on a country wracked by years of civil war.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
