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Syrian security forces redeploy to Druze city as Israel resumes airstrikes after Bedouin attacks
A renewed offensive by Bedouin fighters appears to have breached a US-backed ceasefire within 24 hours
July 18, 2025 10:36
A renewed offensive by Bedouin fighters appears to have breached a US-backed ceasefire within 24 hours
July 18, 2025 10:36Syria has confirmed it will redeploy its security forces to the Druze city of Sweida, south of Damascus, following another wave of Israeli strikes in the area.
Government forces withdrew from the area on Wednesday amid US-back mediation efforts.
The IDF confirmed it had restarted its campaign near the city less than 24 hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a ceasefire.
The country's president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, accused Druze fighters of violating the ceasefire.
In a statement, he claimed "outlaw forces" were behind "crimes that... directly threaten civil peace, and push towards chaos and security collapse".
He also warned against "continued blatant Israeli interference in Syria’s internal affairs".
However, Israel has accused Syrian forces of murdering Druze civilians amid a wave of sectarian clashes with Bedouin tribes and insists strikes are necessary to protect the community, which has ties to the Israeli Druze.
According to the Times of Israel, an Israeli official confirmed that Jerusalem is allowing “internal security forces” 48 hours to restore order in the city after Bedouin leaders told Reuters they had launched a new offensive.
But the government remains adamant it will not allow any military incursion into the area.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu has called for a full “demilitarisation” of southern Syria, stretching from Damascus to the Israeli border.
In a video statement released yesterday, he said: “We have set a clear policy.
"Demilitarising the area south of Damascus, from the Golan Heights to the Druze mountains, is one [red] line.
"The second line [is] protecting the brothers of our brothers, the Druze in the Druze mountains.
"We will not allow military forces to descend south of Damascus, we will not allow the Druze to be harmed in Jebel Druze.”
And Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has confirmed that he has ordered the implementation a new aid distribution scheme to assist Druze civilians affected by the violence.
The package, worth NIS two million, will see Israel send out food parcels, medical equipment, first aid kits and medicine “in a targeted manner” to Sweida.