Illustrative image. (Israeli Defense Forces)
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated late on July 16 that the conflict between Israel and Syria’s Islamist government sparked by the latter’s attack on the Druze-majority southern city of al-Suwayda was nearing its end.
In a post to X, Rubio said that the parties “have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight” in Syria.
“This will require all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made, and this is what we fully expect them to do,” he added.
The battle in al-Suwayda began on July 13, as a result of a local conflict between Druze fighters and Sunni tribesmen. Early on July 14, the government announced that it was intervening to stop the conflict, but ended up backing the tribesmen. Israel has been launching strikes in support of the Druze from the start.
Despite the optimistic remarks by Rubio, more Israeli strikes hit Syrian government forces from al-Suwayda, to the neighboring governorate of Daraa up to the outskirts of the capital, Damascus.
In al-Suwayda, most of the strikes targeted the city, which is still mostly under the control of government forces. In Daraa, the city center was also hit by several strikes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which also reported multiple strikes on military sites in the countryside of the governorate.
Meanwhile in the outskirts of Damascus, heavy strikes were reported in military sites near the towns of Mezzeh, Moadamieh and Qatana.
Syrian media reported casualties and material losses after the Israeli strikes, without providing any specific numbers or details.
It’s worth noting that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visited the Syrian border in the evening, telling troops there, “We are acting with determination to prevent the entrenchment of hostile elements beyond the border, to protect the citizens of the State of Israel, and to prevent harm to the Druze.”
Amid the Israeli escalation, the Syrian government announced an agreement with Druze leaders to end fighting, withdrew the military and deployed security forces in the city. However, the agreement was ultimately rejected by the spiritual leader of the group, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, who called for expelling government forces from the entirety of the governorate.
The battle in al-Suwayda has so far claimed the lives of 302 people, including 27 Druze civilians who were executed by government forces, according to the SOHR. The real death toll is likely much higher.
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islamists want more war. 🙉🙈
swallow more jizz in your gay tel aviv bar
whoever you are quoting from the usa as your source on this was on epstein’s island and fucked underage kids.
the zionist thugs don’t need julani anymore he has served his purpose overthrowing the syrian resistance so he is probably a dead man walking, the plan is the same as it has always been to take a chunk of syria for zionist lebensraum.
how are you erdogan?
erdogan, i hope your mom isn’t in the palace with julani. but i know it’s just a hope. and i know there might be other of your family members as well.
seems, increasingly, us-israel like to play good cop-bad cop. we saw this with iran-israel conflict.
according to moon of alabama, turkey isn’t happy with israel about this. but, i have trouble seeing turkey standing up to israel.
a lebanese analyst said the idf pretends they’re anti-syrian government, when they’re really anti-druze. i can’t call it. and do i really want to?