Syria, Druze and Israel
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Syria announces ceasefire
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Israel launched a direct strike on the Syrian military headquarters in Damascus following escalating violence against Druze civilians in southern Syri
Druse militiamen have been fighting with Bedouins in the Sweida Province, and Syrian government forces and the Israeli military are getting involved.
Syria’s Defense Ministry blamed militias in Sweida for violating a cease-fire agreement that had been reached Tuesday, causing Syrian army soldiers to return fire and continue military operations in the Druze-majority province.
Syrian troops entered the predominantly Druze city on Tuesday following two days of clashes, the first time government forces have deployed to Sweida since the new government took power.
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The mainly Druze residents of the Syrian city of Sweida had hoped the arrival of government forces on Tuesday would spell an end to deadly sectarian clashes with local Bedouin tribes.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei expressed concern over clashes in Syria and strongly criticized the U.N. Security Council's inaction in the face of the Israeli regime's aggression on Syria,
This matters because if ISIS is on the rise in parts of Syria, then it will require coordination between Damascus and the SDF. The SDF controls a third of Syria.