Clashes between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes resumed Thursday, ending a fragile cease-fire. Allowing Syrian forces into the restive region would mark a shift from earlier Israeli policy rejecting government forces' involvement.
Israel has agreed to a limited 48-hour deployment of Syrian security forces to the restive Sweida province, citing "ongoing instability in southwestern Syria," an Israeli official said Friday. The announcement came after Syrian officials denied that government forces were re-entering the Druze-majority region, casting doubt on reports of a coordinated redeployment.
Renewed clashes that broke out overnight Thursday between Druze armed groups and Bedouin tribal fighters in the southern Syrian province, Syrian officials said Friday, ending a brief cease-fire. The violence drew fresh Israeli airstrikes and heightened tensions along the border, complicating an already fragile truce brokered earlier this week.
Syrian security forces had been reportedly preparing to redeploy to Sweida after pulling out under the U.S.-backed cease-fire. Officials had told the Associated Press that the move was coordinated with Druze factions to restore stability and protect state institutions. Still, Interior Ministry spokesperson Noureddin al-Baba's statement denying the reports raises doubts about these claims.
The fighting first erupted Sunday between Druze militias and local Sunni Bedouin tribes, before government troops intervened, siding with the Bedouins against the Druze. Over four days, the clashes claimed hundreds of lives amid allegations that government-affiliated fighters executed Druze civilians and looted and burned homes.
The unrest prompted Israel to launch dozens of airstrikes against Syrian government convoys in Sweida and to strike the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters in Damascus, marking a significant escalation.
Israel said it would not allow Syria's Islamist-led government to deploy troops in the south and has vowed to shield the Druze community, which forms a substantial minority not only in Syria but also in neighbouring Lebanon and Israel, where the Druze are well integrated into national life and serve in the military.
Israeli Druze have repeatedly urged their government to protect their Syrian counterparts during past conflicts and again during this latest escalation.
After the cease-fire was announced Wednesday – brokered with U.S., Turkish, and Arab mediation – government forces largely withdrew from Sweida, with Druze factions and clerics assuming responsibility for internal security, according to Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa.
The cease-fire briefly halted the bloodshed, but late Thursday, fresh clashes reignited between Druze militias and Bedouin groups, according to Syrian state media reports. Bodies were reportedly found in the streets as residents returned to search for missing relatives, and many homes had been looted or torched in the fighting.
State outlets described the Druze attacks as retaliatory, claiming they were carried out against Bedouin communities accused of siding with government-aligned forces. The violence has caused renewed displacement across the region.
Israel's military carried out additional strikes overnight Friday in Sweida province amid the renewed violence. A senior U.S. official said Washington "does not support Israeli airstrikes in Syria" and is focused on maintaining the cease-fire.
Syria's interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa accused Israel of attempting to fracture the country and pledged to defend the Druze population. His remarks came after Druze activists accused government-aligned fighters of carrying out field executions during house-to-house raids.
It remains unclear
whether Syrian forces will be able to return to Sweida
without provoking further bloodshed. However, the Interior
Ministry's denial and Israel's conditional 48-hour consent
suggest that any re-entry by security forces will be closely
monitored and limited in scope.