Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Syrian interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa have agreed to a ceasefire to halt ongoing violence in the southern Syrian city of Sweida, U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye Tom Barrack announced on Saturday via social media platform X.
"We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and, together with other minorities, build a new and united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with its neighbors," Barrack said.
The ceasefire comes after a week of deadly clashes in Sweida between the Druze and Bedouin communities, which have resulted in at least 638 deaths since Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Israel intervened on Wednesday with airstrikes targeting key locations in Damascus, including the Syrian army’s headquarters. On Friday evening, Sharaa’s office pledged to deploy fresh forces to Sweida to quell further clashes, urging "all parties to exercise restraint and prioritize reason."
The United Nations’ International Organization for Migration reported on Friday that over 79,000 people have been displaced since Sunday, including more than 20,000 on Thursday alone. The humanitarian situation in Sweida is dire, with shortages of essential supplies and overwhelmed medical facilities.
"People are running out of everything," said Stephan Sakalian, head of the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation in Syria. "Hospitals are increasingly struggling to treat the wounded and the sick, and families are unable to bury their loved ones in dignity."
Israel, which has its own sizable Druze community, announced on Friday that it is sending humanitarian aid valued at nearly $600,000, including food and medical supplies, to the Druze in Sweida.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called for an immediate end to the violence and demanded "independent, prompt, and transparent investigations into all violations."
The clashes in Sweida erupted after armed members of a Bedouin tribe allegedly assaulted and robbed a young Druze man near the town of al-Masmiyah along the Damascus-Sweida highway, igniting long-standing tensions between the communities.
