Druze

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.

RAMI AL SAYED/AFP via Getty Images

Ceasefire fragile as Syria evacuates Bedouins in Suwayda, US urges accountability

The Syrian government has moved some Bedouin families out of the southern province after clashes with Druze fighters intensified over the weekend.

Latest News

Analysis

Suwayda clashes stoke Turkey's fears of Kurdish gains, Syria's fragmentation

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa shake hands during a joint press conference following their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, on Feb. 4, 2025. — OZAN KOSE/Getty

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

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.

Analysis

Why Iran is alarmed but vindicated by Syria's Druze crisis

Bedouin and tribal fighters deploy as a car burns at the western entrance of Syria's Druze heartland of Suwayda on July 18, 2025.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

As Bedouins mobilize, clashes with Druze resume in Syria’s Suwayda: What to know

Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images

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.

Analysis

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

The Israeli prime minister is being pressed by the Trump administration to avoid escalating the situation in Syria but also by Israeli Druze to protect their brethren there.

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

Sharaa, Druze leaders

As Suwayda agreement takes shape, here are key Druze players in Syria

The Syrian Druze community has three prominent religious leaders, as well as a number of armed groups that continue to operate in the area after the civil war.

Druze men greet each other as they wait near the border fence in the town of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, as Syrian Druze who had crossed over the day before to the village, cross back to return to Syrian, on July 17, 2025. Syrian government forces have withdrawn from the whole of Sweida province after days of sectarian bloodshed in the heartland of the Druze minority, a war monitor and witnesses said July 17, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo

Analysis

Trump’s Syria gamble tested by unrest in Suwayda

The recent bloodshed in southern Syria is testing the Trump administration’s policy toward the war-torn country and complicating hopes for its potential normalization with Israel.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

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

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

A fragile ceasefire signed by Damascus and Suwayda leaders appeared to hold, as Syria's president vowed accountability for those behind violence against the Druze community.

Members of the Druze community demonstrate before Israeli forces by the barbed-wire fence separating the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and Syria near Majdal Shams, on July 16, 2025.

Israeli Druze breach Syria border, call for 'day of rage' over Suwayda clashes

The Israeli Druze leadership announced a one-day labor strike on Wednesday and called on all Israeli Druze to go to the border and cross it in order to assist their Syrian brethren in Suwayda.

A woman walks past a mural depicting Lebanese Druze politician Walid Jumblatt (bottom, R) and Syrian Druze nationalist leader Sultan al-Atrash, in the predominantly Druze city of Beit Jann on November 16, 2023. Around 150,000 Druze, Arab adherents of an esoteric offshoot of Shiite Islam, live in Israel. Most identify as Israelis and the men -- not women -- are conscripted into the military, many serving in combat units. The Druze community is concentrated in 16 villages in northern Israel, among them Beit J

Lebanon's Druze mobilize in solidarity with Syria's Suwayda: What to know

Druze leaders in Lebanon are voicing their growing concerns over the deadly violence unfolding in Suwayda while members of the community are trying to cross the border into Syria.

Two armed men gesture as a car burns near the site of clashes between Druze and Bedouin factions on July 14, 2025 in Suwayda, Syria.

Live Updates

Syria says army withdrawing from Suwayda after deadly clashes with Druze

The withdrawal follows reportedly an understanding between Damascus and local Druze leaders to end the fighting after days of deadly violence.

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

Analysis

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

Syrian Kurds, who control a quarter of Syria's territory in the north and the northeast, are closely watching events unfold in Suwayda.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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.

Analysis

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

The violent clashes in Syria and subsequent Israeli attack have pushed a potential bilateral security agreement further off.

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.

Druze men demonstrate in solidarity with the Syrian Druze community near the border barrier in the village of Majdal Shams, Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, April 30, 2025.

Live Updates

Syria: Nearly 100 killed in fighting between Druze, Sunni tribes

Intervention by Syrian security forces to contain the escalation in Druze-majority Suwayda province has been met with resistance from the local Druze community.

STEPHANIE LECOCQ/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Will Israel seize opportunity for rapprochement with Syria?

Signs indicate that Israel might have a rare opportunity to hold productive dialogue with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and advance a security deal with Damascus.

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