In Syria, power transfers control of the city of Souweida to Druzes “factions” after Israeli bombings

Syrian president Ahmed al-Charaa announced, Thursday, July 17, in the morning, the transfer “To local factions and sheikhs” Druzes of responsibility for maintaining security in Souweida, a druze -majority city in the south of the country plagued by intercommunity clashes.

In a television address, the head of state justified his decision by “The need to avoid sinking into a new large -scale war” After four days of violence which left more than 350 people dead and the day after Israeli strikes on Syria. On Wednesday evening, the Syrian army had started to withdraw from Souweida, a few hours after the announcement by the Syrian authorities of a ceasefire.

“We had two options: an open war with the Israeli entity at the expense of our Druze people, its security and the stability of Syria and the whole region, or give the elders and the sheikhs Druzes the possibility of returning to reason and giving priority to the national interest”said the Syrian president again.

Clashes between Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druzes fighters, an esoteric minority from the Ismaelian branch of Shiism, broke out on Sunday in the province of Souweida after the kidnapping of a Druze vegetable merchant. Syrian government forces, deployed since Tuesday in Souweida, have been accused of having fought alongside the Bedouin tribes.

The latest assessment of violence, released Thursday morning by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), has been more than 350 people since Sunday. The NGO said that 79 Druzes fighters and 18 Bedouin fighters had been killed, as well as 55 Druzes civilians, of which “Twenty-seven civilians summarily executed by the members of the Ministries of Defense and the Interior”. Ahmed al-Charaa promised Thursday to do “Rendering accounts” to the authors of abuses against “Our Druze people, who are under the protection and responsibility of the State”.

In addition, 189 members of the army or security forces were killed, to which were added fifteen soldiers and members of the police who died in Israeli strikes, the NGO said. A local journalist is also one of those killed, said the OSDH.

An “American, Arab and Turkish mediation”

Assuring wanting to defend the Druze, Israel struck Damascus, the Syrian capital on Wednesday, as well as, for the third consecutive day, Souweida. The Hebrew state affirms that it will not allow a military presence in the south of Syria, near its border, while it considers with distrust of the Syrian Islamist power.

Earlier, in the afternoon, Israel had targeted Damascus, warning the Syrian authorities, by the voice of its Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, that “The painful blows have started”. The Israeli army said it had targeted a target near the presidential palace, on a hill overlooking the Syrian capital, where the president, Ahmed al-Charaa, receives his visitors. Mr. Katz also published a message on social networks showing live broadcast on Syrian television from an air attack destroying a large part of the military headquarters of the Syrian regime.

Bombings also targeted near Damascus “The surroundings of Mazzé’s military airport”according to the Syrian authorities. Others have targeted in particular Souweida and the Damascus-Deraa motorway, according to the Sana agency. The Syrian Ministry of Health reported three dead and thirty-four injured in the only strikes on Damascus.

In his speech on Thursday, Ahmed al-Charaa accused Israel of having contributed to “Climbing” and praised on the contrary “The effective intervention of American, Arab and Turkish mediation, which saved the region from an unknown fate”. The Syrian president did not specify which Arab countries had intervened in mediation.

On Wednesday, the American secretary of state, Marco Rubio, had announced, without giving more details, “An agreement on specific measures that will end this disturbing and terrifying situation” in Syria.