Image Source: Agencies

July 21, 2025: After the Islamist-led government announced that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and a US envoy indicated that a deal to end days of fighting was being implemented, residents in Syria's Sweida reported calm on Sunday. The Sweida bloodshed, which has been reported to have killed hundreds, is a significant test for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. As a result, Israel declared its support for the Druze last week and launched airstrikes against government forces. Saturday saw fighting continue despite a ceasefire call.

On Sunday, Interior Minister Anas Khattab stated that internal security forces had been successful in settling the situation and enforcing the ceasefire, "paving the way for a prisoner exchange and the gradual return of stability throughout the governorate." Images showed troops from the interior ministry near the city obstructing a road in front of tribe members gathered there. The Interior Ministry said late on Saturday that Bedouin fighters had left the city.

The parties had "navigated to a pause and cessation of hostilities," according to US envoy Tom Barrack. "The next foundation stone on a path to inclusion and lasting de-escalation is a complete exchange of hostages and detainees, the logistics of which are in process," he wrote on X. Dentist Kenan Azzam said there was a strange calm, but the city's residents were having trouble getting water and electricity. He stated, "There are still so many dead and wounded, and the hospitals are a disaster and out of service." According to the Syrian state news agency, the Syrian Red Crescent-organized aid was allowed into the city while the government's aid convoy was denied entry.

According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Sweida's local factions had stopped the government convoy. In Syria, Israel, and Lebanon, the Druze are a small but powerful minority that practice a religion that is an offshoot of a branch of Shi'ite Islam. Their beliefs are considered heretical by some hardline Sunnis. Conflicts between Bedouin and Druze fighters marked the beginning of the fighting a week ago. Damascus sent troops to stop the fighting, but they got caught up in it and were blamed for a lot of violations against the Druze. Friends and neighbors, according to residents of the predominantly Druze city, were shot at close range by Syrian troops in their homes or on the streets.