Key points
- Syrian forces to get limited access to Sweida province
- Human rights group says over 300 killed in fighting
- Syrian government urges clashing parties to exercise restraint
- Office of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced an “immediate ceasefire” in Sweida on Saturday
ISLAMABAD: Israel and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire, the US envoy to Turkey said on Friday, after days of bloodshed in the predominantly Druze area that has killed over 300 people.
On Wednesday, Israel launched airstrikes in Damascus and hit government forces in the south, demanding they withdraw and saying that Israel aimed to protect Syrian Druze – part of a small but influential minority that also has members in Lebanon and Israel, according to Reuters.
At least 638 people have died since Sunday in violence between the Druze and Bedouins, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, AFP reported.
Tom Barrack, the US pointman on Syria, said in the early hours of Saturday in the Middle East that Sharaa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “have agreed to a ceasefire” negotiated by the United States.
“Immediate ceasefire”
The office of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced an “immediate ceasefire” in Sweida on Saturday as interior ministry forces deployed in the Druze-majority province under a US-brokered deal with Israel.
The presidency called on “all parties to fully respect” the truce, which came after Israel bombed defence ministry forces which had deployed to the southern province earlier this week to force their withdrawal, AFP reported.
Neighbours support truce
Barrack, who is US ambassador to Ankara, said the deal was backed by Turkey, a key supporter of Sharaa, as well as neighbouring Jordan.
“We call upon Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with its neighbours,” he wrote on X.
BREAKTHROUGH —— Israeli Prime Minister @Netanyahu and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa @SyPresidency supported by the U.S.A. @SecRubio have agreed to a ceasefire embraced by Türkiye, Jordan and its neighbors. We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and…
— Ambassador Tom Barrack (@USAMBTurkiye) July 18, 2025
The United States on Wednesday announced an earlier deal in which Sharaa pulled government forces out of Sweida, the southern hub of the Druze minority.
Sharaa said the mediation helped avert a “large-scale escalation” with Israel.
His office on Friday evening pledged to deploy fresh forces to the region to break up further clashes in the south, urging “all parties to exercise restraint and prioritise reason”.
Clashes
Renewed fighting erupted Friday between Bedouin tribal factions and the Druze at the entrance to Sweida, an AFP correspondent said.
About 200 tribal fighters clashed with armed Druze men from the city using machine guns and shells, the AFP correspondent said, while the Syrian Observatory also reported fighting and shelling on neighbourhoods in Sweida.
In the corridors of the Sweida National Hospital, a foul odour emanated from the swollen and disfigured bodies piled up in refrigerated storage units, an AFP correspondent reported.
A small number of doctors and nurses at the hospital worked to treat the wounded arriving from the ongoing clashes, some in the hallways.
“More than 400 bodies”
Omar Obeid, a doctor at the government hospital, said that the facility has received “more than 400 bodies” since Monday morning.
“There is no more room in the morgue. The bodies are in the street” in front of the hospital, added Obeid, president of the Sweida branch of the Order of Physicians.
The UN’s International Organisation for Migration reported on Friday that 79,339 people have been displaced since Sunday, including 20,019 on Thursday alone.
