Syria’s Druze Leader Declares Armed Resistance Against HTS

Date: 15 July 2025 - 22:18

News ID: ۱۴۱۴۶۵

DAMASCUS (Dispatches) -- The spiritual leader of the Druze community in Syria, Sheikh Hekmat al-Hijri, announced the revocation of a deal allowing the entry of the ruling Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) forces into the Suwayda governorate, just 30 minutes after previously urging Druze factions to surrender their weapons to the state.
“The agreement has been revoked, and the statement was imposed on us by foreign powers. We will reject humiliation and disgrace,” Hijri declared in a sharp reversal, calling on the Druze people to “resist this brutal campaign by all available means.”
The spiritual leader’s about-face came shortly after HTS forces allied with other takfiri factions, issued a statement declaring a “complete ceasefire” in the majority-Druze governorate. However, eyewitnesses reported that intense clashes and shelling continued in Suwayda city — contradicting the regime’s public claims.
HTS defense minister Murhaf Abu Qasra announced: “To all units operating inside Suwayda: We declare a complete ceasefire following an agreement with the city’s dignitaries. Fire is to be returned only if attacked by outlawed groups.” Yet shortly after the announcement, rockets continued to fall across the city and surrounding areas at intervals of 20–30 minutes.
The HTS military and allied extremist groups pushed into Suwayda’s city center earlier in the day, sparking fierce clashes with local defense units and civilians. At least 100 people — including women and children — have been killed since the fighting erupted earlier this week, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
Footage emerging from the city center captured regime forces invoking sectarian slogans — shouting, “Suwayda has returned to the Sunnah” — while gunfire rang out around them.
This escalation follows Israeli airstrikes on targets in the Suwayda area, which coincided with the Syrian regime’s assault. Israel claims it targeted Syrian army tanks

during the fighting. Despite the cross-border aggression, Damascus — now openly collaborating with takfiri elements — has shown no response to Israeli actions, focusing instead on what observers call a campaign of terror against minority populations within its own borders.

Just a day before, Sheikh Hijri had condemned the HTS regime for indiscriminate attacks on Suwayda’s civilians, accusing it of backing artillery and drone strikes on residential areas.

The latest wave of violence was triggered on Sunday when Bedouin militants — reportedly aligned with regime-loyalist paramilitaries — erected a checkpoint on the Damascus–Suwayda highway, where they violently assaulted a young Druze man. The incident sparked retaliatory actions by local groups, followed by a massive regime military response.

Despite professing a desire to “restore order and stability,” the HTS has escalated its crackdown, appearing more intent on crushing local autonomy than confronting Israeli incursions. Israel, for its part, has periodically expressed alleged concern for the Druze population and claims to support their protection, while maintaining back-channel negotiations with Damascus over normalization and security arrangements.

This latest flare-up follows a similar round of clashes in April, when Israeli airstrikes targeted Damascus-affiliated forces during a separate confrontation with Druze fighters.