Death toll nears 600 in Syria's Sweida as Israeli airstrike hits outskirts, displacement intensifies

Damascus, July 18 (IANS) The death toll from this week's deadly clashes in southern Syria's Sweida province has risen to nearly 600, as tensions continued amid an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Sweida, state-run media and a war monitor reported.

According to Syria's official news agency SANA, an Israeli warplane launched a new air raid targeting the vicinity of Sweida city, a day after Israeli strikes hit military and symbolic state sites in Damascus. No immediate casualties were reported from Thursday's strike.

The escalation comes as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 597 people had been killed since July 13, when fighting erupted between local Druze armed groups and Syrian government forces, sparking what the watchdog described as one of the deadliest episodes of intra-Syrian conflict in years, Xinhua news agency reported.

The observatory also warned of a growing humanitarian crisis as Arab Bedouin families continue to flee areas across Sweida amid reports of intimidation, sectarian reprisals, and siege-like conditions.

Meanwhile, in a statement on Thursday night, the Syrian interim authorities said the military had withdrawn from Sweida in response to a US-Arab mediation effort aimed at de-escalating the deadly violence, but accused local armed factions of violating the ceasefire and committing "horrific crimes" against civilians.

What followed the withdrawal constituted "a blatant breach of these understandings," the statement said, alleging that the factions carried out "a horrific campaign of violence" threatening civil peace and pushing the country toward chaos and security collapse.

The interim authorities did not specify the violations. The remarks came hours after the observatory reported a series of summary executions and sectarian reprisals in Sweida, especially against members of Bedouin tribes.

The statement also reaffirmed the pledge to protect all Syrians and called on the international community to support efforts to restore stability.

Despite the withdrawal of interim government forces by dawn Thursday, conditions on the ground remain volatile, with mass displacement and fears of renewed Israeli airstrikes compounding the already dire humanitarian situation.

Additionally, Arab tribes from Deir al-Zour province and northern Syria, as well as interim government loyalists from Idlib, were said to have been mobilising to aid the Bedouins in Sweida, adding to the intensity of the situation in southern Syria.

An escalation in Sweida began Sunday after armed members of a Bedouin tribe in the countryside of Sweida, a predominantly Druze province, reportedly assaulted and robbed a young Druze man near the town of al-Masmiyah, along the Damascus-Sweida highway. The brutal attack sparked retaliatory kidnappings, spiraling into full-scale clashes between local Druze fighters, government troops, and Bedouin militias.

On Monday and Wednesday, Israel launched waves of strikes on Damascus and Sweida, claiming to prevent the Druze minority from being harmed. The attacks have met with strong condemnation from the international community.

Hours after the Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday, a fragile ceasefire between Syria's interim government and Druze spiritual leaders entered into effect.

--IANS

int/rs