Israel, Syria Agree Ceasefire as Israel Allows Syrian Troops limited Access to Suwayda

AFP

Suwayda city, Syria.

Israel and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire, the U.S. envoy to Türkiye said, 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.

"We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity," Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Türkiye, said in a post on X.

Barrack said that Israel and Syria agreed to the ceasefire supported by Türkiye, Jordan and neighbours.

Syria's Suwayda province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence triggered by clashes between Bedouin fighters and Druze factions.

Earlier on Friday, an Israeli official said Israel agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to the Suwayda area of southern Syria for the next two days.

The Syrian presidency said late on Friday that authorities would deploy a force in the south dedicated to ending the clashes, in coordination with political and security measures to restore stability and prevent the return of violence.

Damascus earlier this week dispatched government troops to quell the fighting, but they were accused of carrying out widespread violations against the Druze and were hit by Israeli strikes before withdrawing under a truce agreed on Wednesday.

Israel had repeatedly said it would not allow Syrian troops to deploy to the country's south, but on Friday it said it would grant them a brief window to end renewed clashes there.

"In light of the ongoing instability in southwest Syria, Israel has agreed to allow limited entry of the (Syrian) internal security forces into Suwayda district for the next 48 hours," the official, who declined to be named, told reporters.

Describing Syria's new rulers as barely disguised jihadists, Israel has vowed to shield the area's Druze community from attack, encouraged by calls from Israel's own Druze minority.

It carried out more strikes on Suwayda in the early hours of Friday.

The U.S. intervened to help secure the earlier truce between government forces and Druze fighters, and the White House said on Thursday that it appeared to be holding.

Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has worked to establish warmer ties with the U.S., accused Israel of trying to fracture Syria and promised to protect its Druze minority.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights said it had documented 321 deaths in fighting since Sunday, among them medical personnel, women and children. It said they included field executions by all sides. Syria's minister for emergencies said more than 500 wounded had been treated and hundreds of families had been evacuated out of the city.

The head of the U.N. human rights office urged Syria's interim authorities to ensure accountability for what it said are credible reports of widespread rights violations during the fighting, including summary executions and kidnappings, the office said in a statement.

At least 13 people were unlawfully killed in one recorded incident on Tuesday when affiliates of the interim authorities opened fire at a family gathering, the OHCHR said. Six men were summarily executed near their homes the same day.

The UN human rights chief Volker Türk said there must be "independent, prompt and transparent investigations into all violations, and those responsible must be held to account, in accordance with international standards".

"It is crucial that immediate steps are taken to prevent recurrence of such violence. Revenge and vengeance are not the answer," he added.



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