Illustrative image. (Israeli Defense Forces)
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated late on July 16 that the conflict between Israel and Syria’s Islamist government sparked by the latter’s attack on the Druze-majority southern city of al-Suwayda was nearing its end.
In a post to X, Rubio said that the parties “have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight” in Syria.
“This will require all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made, and this is what we fully expect them to do,” he added.
The battle in al-Suwayda began on July 13, as a result of a local conflict between Druze fighters and Sunni tribesmen. Early on July 14, the government announced that it was intervening to stop the conflict, but ended up backing the tribesmen. Israel has been launching strikes in support of the Druze from the start.
Despite the optimistic remarks by Rubio, more Israeli strikes hit Syrian government forces from al-Suwayda, to the neighboring governorate of Daraa up to the outskirts of the capital, Damascus.
In al-Suwayda, most of the strikes targeted the city, which is still mostly under the control of government forces. In Daraa, the city center was also hit by several strikes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which also reported multiple strikes on military sites in the countryside of the governorate.
Meanwhile in the outskirts of Damascus, heavy strikes were reported in military sites near the towns of Mezzeh, Moadamieh and Qatana.
Syrian media reported casualties and material losses after the Israeli strikes, without providing any specific numbers or details.
It’s worth noting that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visited the Syrian border in the evening, telling troops there, “We are acting with determination to prevent the entrenchment of hostile elements beyond the border, to protect the citizens of the State of Israel, and to prevent harm to the Druze.”
Amid the Israeli escalation, the Syrian government announced an agreement with Druze leaders to end fighting, withdrew the military and deployed security forces in the city. However, the agreement was ultimately rejected by the spiritual leader of the group, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, who called for expelling government forces from the entirety of the governorate.
The battle in al-Suwayda has so far claimed the lives of 302 people, including 27 Druze civilians who were executed by government forces, according to the SOHR. The real death toll is likely much higher.
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islamists want more war. 🙉🙈
swallow more jizz in your gay tel aviv bar
syria must be turned into a martian desert so that not a single blade of grass will grow in it.
…which will be i$rael if it tries another misadventure in iran.
russia is a treacherous conglomerate, israel was able to protect the druze, but russia could not protect either the alawites or the christians.
they made choices. just as they have in the eastern donbass dragging the war out for 11 years that has included it’s own territory kursk and many terrorist attacks by nato$tan that have included targeted assasination/killings and destruction of infrastructure inside it’s borders… yet russia remains a loyal lap dog to the un?… it’s just business -you see!
whoever you are quoting from the usa as your source on this was on epstein’s island and fucked underage kids.
the zionist thugs don’t need julani anymore he has served his purpose overthrowing the syrian resistance so he is probably a dead man walking, the plan is the same as it has always been to take a chunk of syria for zionist lebensraum.
how are you erdogan?
erdogan, i hope your mom isn’t in the palace with julani. but i know it’s just a hope. and i know there might be other of your family members as well.
i hope the syrian uyghurs do something stupid in china and the chinese drop atomic bombs on damascus and idlib.
seems, increasingly, us-israel like to play good cop-bad cop. we saw this with iran-israel conflict.
according to moon of alabama, turkey isn’t happy with israel about this. but, i have trouble seeing turkey standing up to israel.
a lebanese analyst said the idf pretends they’re anti-syrian government, when they’re really anti-druze. i can’t call it. and do i really want to?
maybe the terrorists employed by the syrian government will do something stupid in india, the indians will bring atomic bombs and drop them on damascus.
then maybe the indians could go to syria, breed like rabbits and poop in the streets of damascus.
it’s a shame the israelis didn’t drop a few nuclear bombs on damascus.
i want israel to beat and destroy genocidal hts. i also wish that traitorous russia and iran are torn apart by gangs like they tore apart yugoslavia and the soviet union.
how it goes jewlanis? nice place you created there. what i see so fare is that you humilated and killed more zivilists. and got raped by your gay friend jewsrael while your doing so.
what now? do you enjoy beeing raped and going to hug your raper? even kiss their feet for peace?
but wait! this is only the beginning, enjoy the hell you created for yourself.
russia and iran have betrayed syrian christians and syrian alawites. iran and russia had sufficient equipment and expertise to defend alawites and christians from the genocidal hts group, yet they refused to prevent the genocide. is it wrong for a country not to betray its allies in an age when betrayal is modern? two thousand israeli druze came from israel to defend the syrian druze.i fear that the shame of the turkish alawites will not be washed away for centuries.