Druze, Syria and Damascus
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Residents reported calm in the Syrian city of Sweida on Sunday after the Islamist-led government declared that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and the United States stepped up calls for an end to fighting.
3don MSN
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the Damascus headquarters served as a command center for deploying regime forces to Suwayda, a southern Syrian region gripped by days of deadly clashes between government troops, Druze militias, and Bedouin groups.
Israel carried out a series of powerful strikes on the Syrian capital Damascus Wednesday, escalating a campaign it says is in support of an Arab minority group involved in deadly clashes with Syrian government forces.
THE HAGUE (Reuters) -Israeli airstrikes on Damascus are hampering Syria's efforts to find and destroy chemical weapons stockpiled during the rule of toppled ruler Bashar al-Assad, a government adviser said on Thursday.
Secretary of State Rubio says the U.S. is "very concerned" by expanding Israeli strikes targeting Syria's new government, and he wants "the fighting to stop."
Clan fighters gathered in the Syrian capital Damascus on Saturday to support Bedouin militants in their clashes with Druze armed factions in the southern province of Sweida despite calls for a ceasefire.
Israel bombed the Syrian army headquarters in Damascus on Wednesday after warning the Islamist-led government to leave the Druze minority alone in its Sweida heartland, where a war monitor says sectarian clashes have killed nearly 250 people.
Some Syrian military units are withdrawing from the southern city of Suwayda after days of deadly fighting. Secretary of State Rubio announced late Wednesday that all parties, including Israel, agreed to a ceasefire.
The attack follows a wave of Israeli strikes on Syrian government forces during two days of sectarian clashes between local Druze and Bedouin populations.
The challenge now is whether the two sides can de-escalate. Numerous Bedouin tribes from across Syria mobilized to fight in Sweida.