Syria, Israel and Sweida
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Israel has agreed to allow limited access by Syrian forces into the Sweida area of southern Syria for the next two days, an Israeli official said on Friday, after days of bloodshed in the predominantly Druze area that has killed over 300 people.
A US-mediated ceasefire was announced after Israeli airstrikes and brutal clashes between Druze and Bedouins displaced 80,000 in Syria’s Sweida province. Humanitarian aid is blocked amid renewed violence and a worsening crisis in southern Syria.
Clashes flared up again Friday between Druze militiamen and Sunni Bedouin tribes around Sweida in southern Syria. Footage from the Al-Arabiya network showed fires burning on the roadside and a heavy presence of Syrian security forces and other armed men.
Clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters erupt again in Sweida, after Syria’s army withdrew earlier this week.
The conflict drew airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighboring Israel in defense of the Druze minority before most of the fighting was halted by a truce announced Wednesday.
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DPA International on MSNUN reports fresh clashes in Sweida, evidence of rights abusesThe UN Human Rights Office in Geneva reported on Friday that fresh clashes had broken out in the Syrian province of Sweida, and that it had received "credible" reports of human rights violations. Some groups were deliberately trying to incite further violence with disinformation,
Syrian government forces had largely pulled out of the Druze-majority southern province of Sweida after days of clashes with militias linked to the Druze religious minority that threatened to unravel the country’s fragile post-war transition.
The U.N. said on Friday (July 19) it had received "credible" reports of "widespread violations and abuses" as well as continuing clashes in Sweida, after days of bloodshed in and around the predominantly Druze city in southern Syria. Zachary Goelman produced this report.
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Al-Monitor on MSN‘Mass grave’: Medics appeal for aid at last working hospital in Syria’s SweidaHospital corridors were engulfed by the stench of the dead bodies that had bloated beyond recognition. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Syrian government forces have left the southern city of Sweida, where days of sectarian clashes involving the Druze minority have left hundreds dead. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa made a call for unity in the middle of the night.
BEIRUT (Reuters) -One elderly man had been shot in the head in his living room. Another in his bedroom. The body of a woman lay in the street. After days of bloodshed in Syria's Druze city of Sweida,