Syria: Government forces to enter Druze-majority town of Sweida after deadly clashes

This new intercommunal violence illustrates the challenges facing Ahmad al-Shareh's interim government since he overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in December, in a country ravaged by nearly 14 years of civil war. Druze spiritual leaders announced in a statement that they approved the entry of government forces into Sweida and called on Druze factions to surrender their weapons, following the Interior Ministry's announcement that a curfew had been imposed on the city.

The central government's decision to enter Sweida comes after two days of clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes, alongside whom government forces were fighting. The clashes erupted on Sunday after Bedouins kidnapped a Druze trader, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). On Monday, Israel announced it had struck several government tanks in the region and added that it would not allow a military presence in southern Syria.

Israel had already intervened in Syria in recent months under the pretext of protecting the Druze. These strikes constitute "a clear warning to the Syrian regime. We will not allow harm to come to the Druze in Syria," said Defense Minister Israel Katz. By Monday afternoon, government forces, which had dispatched significant reinforcements to the region, had taken control of Al-Mazraah, a Druze village outside Sweida. Sweida province is home to the country's largest Druze community, an esoteric minority with roots in Islam that numbered some 700,000 in Syria before the civil war and also has a presence in Lebanon and Israel.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the clashes left 99 dead, including 60 Druze, mostly fighters, but also two women and two children, 18 Bedouins, 14 members of the security forces, and seven unidentified armed men. The Defense Ministry reported 18 deaths among the armed forces. Tensions had been simmering since sectarian clashes in April between Druze fighters and security forces in Druze areas near Damascus and in Sweida, which left more than 100 dead.