Bedouins

Suwayda

Feature

‘We've been living with the dead’: Al-Monitor's dispatch from Syria's Suwayda

Despite a ceasefire, Suwayda residents remain traumatized by the clashes and revenge killings that destroyed long-standing trust between the Druze minority and Damascus.

Danny Makki

Angela Alsahwi

By Danny Makki , Angela Alsahwi

JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Israel, Syria hold first high-level talks in 25 years amid US de-escalation push

The unprecedented meeting in Paris between Israeli and Syrian ministers indicate that both sides are interested in de-escalating tensions and advancing a security deal.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Hosam Saraya

Family says US citizen killed in Syria’s Suwayda

The US State Department said Monday that an American citizen was killed during the unrest in the southern Syrian city of Suwayda last week.

Fighters from Bedouin tribes gather near a burning building in al-Mazraa village, in Syria's southern Suwayda governorate, as clashes with Druze gunmen continue, on July 18, 2025.

Turkey on edge as clashes continue in Syria's Suwayda, Kurds weigh next move

Turkey fears a deepening ethnic fracture in Syria could redraw the regional map — and embolden its own Kurdish population.

Latest News

Analysis

'You can’t embark on new war every few days': Israel-US daylight grows over Syria Druze, Sharaa

Israel military vehicles drive along the border fence with Syria, near the town of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, July 17, 2025.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Syria: Over 370 killed in Suwayda as fragile truce holds, Sharaa promises Druze local control

A member of the Syrian security forces examines burnt vehicles amid ongoing clashes in the southern Syrian city of Suwayda, July 16, 2025.

Analysis

Is Sharaa’s Druze crackdown a warning to Syria’s Kurds?

Syrian security forces stand with their guns atop a truck on July 15, 2025, near Suwayda, Syria.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Analysis

Will Israel's airstrikes in Druze city derail Syria normalization talks?

Members of Syria's security forces drive through the predominantly Druze city of Suwayda on July 15, 2025, following Israeli bombardment amid clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

A member of Syria's security forces stands under a sign in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida (Suwayda), on July 15, 2025, following clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters.

Syria announces ceasefire in Druze city of Suwayda: What to know

The ceasefire followed deadly clashes between the Druze of Suwayda and Bedouin tribes that left over 100 people dead.

Displaced Palestinians walk next to the border fence between Gaza and Egypt, on February 16, 2024 in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group. Nearly 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are trapped in Rafah -- more than half of Gaza's populations -- seeking shelter in a sprawling makeshift encampment near the Egyptian border. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Egypt fed up with Netanyahu, but crisis with Israel deeper than Philadelphi

Bilateral relations between Israel and Egypt have been extremely tense, mostly due to disagreement over the Philadelphi Corridor, but not only that.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich walks with soldiers during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza near the border with the Gaza Strip on Nov. 14, 2023, in the aftermath of an attack by Palestinian militants on Oct. 7.

Israel's Smotrich will abolish free trade deal with Turkey, slap 100% tariff

As Israel becomes increasingly isolated internationally, the army stated that two Thai workers, presumed kidnapped by Hamas, were actually killed by the group on Oct. 7.

Relatives of Israeli-Bedouins kidnapped in Gaza call on world leader to assist the campaign for their release, Dec. 14, 2023.

Relatives of Israeli Bedouins kidnapped by Hamas plead for France's help

Relatives of Israeli Bedouins kidnapped by Hamas Oct. 7 are hoping to raise international awareness of their plight.

Leaders of Arab society staged a three-day sit-in in Jerusalem, May 29, 2023.

Why is crime spiking in Arab-Israeli community, as murders nearly double in 2023?

Leaders of Arab society staged a three-day sit-in in Jerusalem against the inefficiency of the government in fighting the growing number of deadly violent incidents.

Muslim Palestinian workers of Israel's Antiquities Authority pray amid the remains of a recently discovered ancient mosque.

Two of world's oldest mosques discovered in Israel’s Negev desert

The Israel Antiquities Authority discovered ruins of ancient mosques and rural properties dating back about 1,200 years, which sheds light on the area’s transition from Christianity to Islam during that era.

Bedouin men eat their dinner in a tent on Oct. 9, 2013, in the Bedouin village of Al-Arakib, Israel.

Israel to build first solar plant on Bedouin land

A unique agreement with the State offers a Bedouin tribe in the south of Israel real ownership of its land, enabling it to rent out space for the construction of a giant solar plant.

Bedouins' sheep and structures are pictured in the village of Humsah al-Baqia in the Israeli occupied West Bank.

Israeli settlement plan in West Bank stirs tensions ahead of Biden trip

US President Joe Biden's visit to the region occurs as Israel escalates military policies in the West Bank and unveils new settlement plans.

Bedouin village

Hamas’ use of excessive force to displace Bedouins angers Gazans

Public and official anger could be felt in Gaza after Hamas security forces attacked the residents of the Bedouin village of Umm al-Nasr, north of Gaza, to forcibly displace them and demolish their homes under the pretext that they do not own these houses.

MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images

Israel shocked by Islamic State-inspired terror attack

Israel’s security agencies were blindsided when the killer of four civilians in Beersheba this week turned out to be an Israeli citizen from the nearby Bedouin town of Hura.

This picture shows a view of houses in the unrecognized Bedouin village of Sawaneen, Negev Desert, Israel, June 8, 2021.

Israel approves five-year development plan for Bedouin villages

Not everyone in the Bedouin community approves of the five-year development plan recently adopted by the government, as it does not resolve the issue of unrecognized Bedouin villages.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish children.

Israel's ultra-Orthodox reject housing in new Negev town

Ultra-Orthodox leaders search for a solution to the housing crisis in the sector, but they are not in favor of the solution proposed by the government to establish a new ultra-Orthodox town in the Negev region.