Syrian leader pledges security for all, slams Israeli strikes on Damascus

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa says protecting the country’s Druze citizens and their rights is simply a precedence arsenic helium announces that section leaders volition instrumentality power of information successful the metropolis of Suwayda successful a bid to extremity sectarian unit successful the southbound and successful the aftermath of deadly Israeli strikes successful Damascus.

In a televised code connected Thursday, the Syrian person addressed days of fierce warring involving Druze equipped groups, Bedouin tribes and authorities forces successful the predominantly Druze metropolis of Suwayda.

Israel, which sees the Druze arsenic allies, launched a series of strikes adjacent Syria’s statesmanlike palace and connected the subject office successful the bosom of Damascus connected Wednesday, informing Syria it would escalate its attacks further if authorities forces did not retreat from the southbound and halt attacks against the Druze community.

“We are anxious connected holding accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze radical due to the fact that they are nether the extortion and work of the state,” al-Sharaa said successful the speech, describing the number arsenic “a cardinal portion of the cloth of this nation”.

“We affirm that protecting your rights and freedoms is among our apical priorities,” helium said. “We cull immoderate attempt, overseas oregon domestic, to sow part wrong our ranks.”

Al-Sharaa said “responsibility” for information successful the violence-plagued country would beryllium handed implicit to spiritual elders and immoderate section factions “based connected the ultimate nationalist interest”.

At slightest 169 radical person been killed successful the unit successful confederate Syria successful caller days, section sources told Al Jazeera, portion the United Kingdom-based warfare monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said much than 360 radical person been killed.

Troops withdraw

Al-Sharaa’s remarks came aft the Syrian authorities and Druze person Sheikh Yousef Jarbou announced a caller ceasefire successful the metropolis and said the service had begun withdrawing from Suwayda. Dozens of Syrian subject vehicles were seen leaving the metropolis overnight.

Reporting from Suwayda, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said “a tense calm” had settled connected the metropolis connected Thursday morning. “Whether oregon not it volition hold, we person to hold and see,” she said.

She said the Druze community, a tiny but influential number successful some Syria and Israel, was “divided” implicit its stance towards the caller Syrian authorities, who took implicit aft the autumn of longtime President Bashar al-Assad successful December.

Jarbou, who said helium agreed to the ceasefire, condemned the Israeli strikes connected Syria, telling Al Jazeera Arabic that “any onslaught connected the Syrian authorities is an onslaught connected the Druze community.”

But different influential Druze person successful the city, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajari, said helium rejected the ceasefire and promised to proceed warring until Suwayda was “entirely liberated”. Khodr said al-Hajari’s whereabouts were unknown, and it was unclear whether fighters affiliated with him would “continue to enactment up a fight”.

‘Israeli entity has targeted our stableness and sowed discord’

In his speech, al-Sharaa called for nationalist unity, saying: “The gathering of a caller Syria requires each of america to basal agreed down our state, to perpetrate to its principles and to spot the involvement of the federation supra immoderate idiosyncratic oregon constricted interest.”

Addressing the Druze community, helium said the authorities rejected “any effort to resistance you into the hands of an outer party”, successful a pointed notation to Israel’s deadly involution successful the conflict.

“The Israeli entity, which has consistently targeted our stableness and sowed discord since the autumn of the erstwhile regime, present seeks erstwhile again to crook our ineffable onshore into a theatre of endless chaos,” helium said.

“We are not among those who fearfulness the war. We person spent our lives facing challenges and defending our people, but we person enactment the interests of the Syrians earlier chaos and destruction.”

He added that Israel’s strikes, including those that killed 3 radical and injured 34 successful Damascus connected Wednesday, could person pushed “matters to a large-scale escalation if it were not for the involution of US, Turkish and Arab mediators, “which saved the portion from an chartless fate”.

The United States, which has softened its stance towards Syria and is trying to re-engage and enactment the country’s reconstruction aft much than 13 years of war, has been anxious to de-escalate the conflict, which Department of State spokesperson Tammy Bruce called “a misunderstanding betwixt caller neighbours”. The US called connected Syria connected Wednesday to retreat its troops from the confederate borderline country to de-escalate tensions.

Actions ‘louder than words’

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mohamad Elmasry, prof of media studies astatine the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said al-Sharaa’s code contained encouraging messages astir the spot of the Druze number successful Syrian society.

“He said that the Druze are an indispensable component,” Elmasry said. “He said it’s the Syrian government’s work to support them and to clasp to relationship those who person transgressed against them successful caller days.”

But helium said it would each travel down to however his authorities behaved successful the aftermath of the speech.

“I deliberation their actions volition talk louder than words for those number groups successful Syria.”

He said the code besides contained a enactment of informing to Israel that al-Sharaa’s authorities did not fearfulness warfare and that “anyone who starts a warfare with Syria … would regret it.”

“These were messages directed astatine Israel, and it marked a precise important departure from what we’ve heard from him and astatine times not heard from him erstwhile Israel has attacked Syria,” Elmasry said.

“I deliberation we’re astatine a perchance unsafe tipping point, and it truly volition travel down to, I think, the grade to which [President] Donald Trump and the United States are consenting to benignant of rein successful Israel,” helium said.

“It’s a precise hard concern successful Syria. You are talking astir a precise multiethnic society. You person extracurricular forces, starting with Israel, trying to fundamentally fragment the state and found a separatist system, if you will, successful Syria,” Elmasry said.

Cycle of violence

The escalation successful Syria began with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks betwixt Druze equipped factions and section Sunni Bedouin tribes successful Suwayda province.

Government forces that intervened to reconstruct bid clashed with the Druze, and Syrian soldiers were reported to person committed abuses, according to section monitors and analysts.

The actions committed by members of the information forces – acknowledged arsenic “unlawful transgression acts” by the Syrian presidency – person fixed Israel a pretext to bombard Syria arsenic it builds military bases successful the Golan Heights successful the demilitarised buffer portion with Syria connected onshore seized by its forces.

Fighting antecedently broke retired betwixt authorities troops and Druze fighters successful April and May, sidesplitting dozens of people. Local leaders and spiritual figures responded by signing agreements to incorporate the escalation and amended integrate Druze fighters into the caller Syrian administration.

The Druze developed their ain militias during the Syrian war. Since al-Assad’s fall, Druze factions person been operating with a grade of autonomy successful Suwayda and its surrounding areas, Khodr said.

Israel has been trying to grow its power successful confederate Syria since al-Assad’s fall and has repeatedly bombed the state this year.

During the warring successful Suwayda, Israel demanded the Syrian unit withdrawal to make a demilitarised portion successful confederate Syria and has been moving its crushed forces deeper into the Golan Heights.