Sunday saw relative calm return to the Suwayda Governorate in southern Syria, after a solid week of fighting among the Druze and Bedouins left in excess of 1,100 documented deaths so far and a final toll that is likely to be even higher.
A majority of the slain were Druze, both combatants and civilians, as government forces deployed to the area carried out summary executions of the Druze. According to the last count, 298 Druze civilians were killed, including 194 summarily executed.
Druze forces also summarily executed at least three Bedouin, though most of the Bedouin slain in the fighting appear to be combatants. Some 342 Syrian defense ministry forces were killed in the fighting, and 15 more Syrian troops were killed by Israeli attacks on the area.
Among the slain are reportedly also a number of Christians, who were Druze that converted to Christianity and got swept up in the killings. This cannot be independently confirmed, but reportedly includes a pastor.
Israeli Druze cross the border to check on their family members in Syria, amid the ongoing conflict in the Druze areas in Syria, in Majdal Shams, near the ceasefire line between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, July 16, 2025. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
The Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) government is claiming the fighting to be over now, and says the Bedouin fighters have been driven from the city of Suwayda. Some reports of shelling have been made in the other areas of the governorate, and the idea that the fighting is truly over may be wishful thinking.
One Bedouin fighter allied with the government and stationed on the outskirts of the governorate threatened to “burn Suwayda along with all those inside” to restore the dignity of the HTS and its leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, claiming only to be waiting for the order.
The Bedouin fighters are claiming that the Druze are holding some of their tribesmen hostage within Suwayda, and are urging the government to withdraw its forces and “leave the matter to the tribes.”
Claims of kidnappings by both sides were the start of all this fighting last Sunday, in the Bedouin-heavy Suwayda neighborhood of Maqus. The Druze sent forces into the neighborhood over “kidnappings” and the local Bedouins called for tribes from the surrounding area to help defend the area, citing Druze kidnappings. Both sides have insisted the other started the matter, though it seems like the fighting has more or less taken on a momentum of its own, and even efforts to impose calm externally seem like they’re at best temporary fixes.
Druze religious leader Hikmat Hjiri has issued a statement calling for the HTS to withdraw its forces from Suwayda and restore Internet and telecommunications services to the governorate. Syria’s Energy Ministry denied any deliberate outages imposed in the area, saying it was actually the result of repeated Israeli airstrikes on Suwayda and they were still in the process of trying to repair the area.