Syria’s Bloody Betrayal: Bedouins Break Ceasefire, Slaughter Druze
Armed Bedouin tribes have resumed attacks on Druze fighters in As-Suwayda, Syria, violating a ceasefire and escalating a conflict that has killed over 500, with both sides committing atrocities and displacing families. The violence, fueled by mutual abductions and ethnic tensions, has drawn Israeli airstrikes and raised fears of broader unrest.
Just hours ago, armed Bedouin groups reignited violent clashes against Druze fighters in Syria’s As-Suwayda province, shattering a fragile ceasefire that aimed to end days of brutal conflict that claimed over 500 lives. The Syrian regime’s forces, led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa, withdrew from the region following the ceasefire agreement, but a Bedouin commander declared to Reuters that the truce “only binds the regime,” not his forces, who seek to free Bedouin civilians detained by Druze groups.
Reports indicate that over 1,000 Bedouin civilians are held in the town of Shahba in As-Suwayda. Armed Bedouin tribes from Daraa, Homs, and Hama are flooding into the province to join the fight, seizing Druze villages like Taara, Al-Dur, Al-Dweira, and Al-Tira. Meanwhile, Druze fighters have launched retaliatory attacks on Bedouin villages in rural As-Suwayda, with a regime-affiliated channel claiming that “lawless Druze groups” led by Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, a prominent anti-regime Druze leader, are responsible. Al-Hijri denied ordering these attacks.
The conflict, which erupted on July 13 after Bedouin assailants robbed and abducted a Druze vegetable vendor on the Damascus-As-Suwayda highway, has led to horrific atrocities. Sunni jihadist fighters aligned with the regime, initially deployed to quell the violence, instead aided Bedouins in massacres and humiliations, including shaving Druze elders’ beards.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 79 Druze fighters and 154 Druze civilians killed, 83 by execution, alongside 243 regime fighters and 18 Bedouin fighters, with three Bedouin civilians executed by Druze forces. Israel conducted airstrikes, killing 15 regime fighters, to support the Druze. Over 500 Bedouin families fled As-Suwayda after their homes were burned, with one Bedouin woman, Wadiha al-Awad, 58, saying, “We want to save our children’s lives. This is our fate. We’re scared and just want to be left alone.” Clashes also spread to Aleppo University, where Druze students faced attacks in dormitories, prompting security intervention. The violence, rooted in longstanding Druze-Bedouin tensions, threatens further escalation as both sides mobilize.