Western Middle East theme
Which Palestinian will be the first to start a Bedouin clan?
The clans leave Sweida: "A city on fire" The fighting in southern Syria has continued even after the ceasefire, but on Sunday the armed clans announced that they had withdrawn from Sweida. "The streets are littered with casualties. Many of them appear to have been executed and some bodies have been burned," correspondent Alex Crawford told Sky News. The population of the city of Sweida mainly belongs to the religious group Druze, which is otherwise a minority in the otherwise predominantly Sunni Muslim Syria. The Druze, in turn, are said to be divided into a group that wants to be included in the country and is positive about the new regime and a group that is instead closer to Israel. It is this militant faction that the armed Bedouin clans in the area are mainly fighting against, according to Alex Crawford.
In a televised statement on Saturday, Syria's interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa urged the clans to leave Sweida. "We thank the Bedouins for their heroic efforts but demand that they fully commit to the ceasefire and follow the state's orders," he said according to AP.When the clans left the city over the weekend, they did so in cars loaded with various spoils, Sky News pictures show. "They have taken everything they can. Livestock, farming equipment, water containers, and even bushes. The situation is calmer now, but I would not describe the ceasefire as anything other than 'fragile,'" says Alex Crawford. Watch the segment on SVT News.
The ceasefire between Israel and Syria has taken effect. The U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, writes on X that the ceasefire between Syria and Israel came into effect at 4 PM on Sunday, Swedish time. "The escalation of hostilities can only be halted through an agreement to pause the violence, protect the innocent, allow humanitarian access, and step back from danger," he writes.An hour later, the Times of Israel reported that the first convoy of humanitarian aid had entered Sweida. It was in the predominantly Druze city where deadly sectarian violence erupted a week ago. See the article on SVT Nyheter.