Syrian gov't will soon withdraw forces from Druze areas, Israeli official tells 'Post'

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government will soon withdraw its forces from areas with Druze populations, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday night.

Earlier, Reuters reported that Syria’s Druze have reached a ceasefire agreement with the Syrian government in Suwayda that will take immediate effect, Druze religious leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou said in a video broadcast by state media on Wednesday.

A ceasefire announced on Tuesday night collapsed after only a few hours. There was still fire from government forces in the predominantly Druze city of Suwayda after the announcement was made, according to a Reuters witness.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, corroborated the reports of a ceasefire agreement, adding that security checkpoints were deployed across Suwayda.

Israel struck the complex a second time later on Wednesday afternoon, also striking the area around Damascus's Presidential Palace, local media reported.

Jerusalem struck the complex a second time later on Wednesday afternoon, also striking the area around Damascus’s Presidential Palace, local media reported.

Several officers were wounded and killed in the strikes on the military headquarters, according to local reports, including a sector commander, other officers responsible for part of the Syria-Jordan border region, and an officer in Syria’s artillery force.

Israeli drones reportedly targeted Syria’s city of Suwayda earlier, where clashes between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters have resumed, SANA reported.

Much of Suwayda is under the control of Druze forces, and the city also hosts a smaller population of Christian and Muslim minorities.

The IDF said it would reinforce its troops along the Syrian border as it continued to monitor the regime’s actions against Druze civilians in southern Syria following a situational assessment.

Syrian government forces were deployed to the area and clashed with the local armed groups.

On Monday, the IDF struck several Syrian regime tanks that were advancing towards Suwayda, as the government forces gained control of at least one Druze village in the area.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that Israel would escalate its level of attacks on the Syrian regime if they do not soon withdraw from Suwayda.

Katz and Netanyahu previously instructed the IDF to prepare to defend the Druze in Syria, as recently as March, after clashes broke out in Jaramana, a city on the outskirts of Damascus, between local Druze forces and the Syrian regime.

“We will not allow the terrorist regime of radical Islam in Syria to harm the Druze,” Netanyahu and Katz said in a statement.

“If the regime harms the Druze, it will be harmed by us. We are committed to our Druze brothers in Israel to do everything to prevent harm to their Druze brothers in Syria, and we will take all necessary steps to maintain their security.”