(FILE) A photo taken with a drone shows displaced Arab Bedouins who fled the city of As Suwayda (Sweida), near the town of Busra al-Harir in the Daraa countryside, Syria, 17 July 2025. EFE/EPA/AHMAD FALLAHA

Israel bombs southern Syria despite local ceasefire

Beirut, Jul 17 (EFE) – Despite the withdrawal of Syrian government troops from the region after the ceasefire between them and the local factions they were facing that went into effect last night, Israel bombed the province of Suwayda in southern Syria.

The Syrian official news agency reported that the bombing targeted the outskirts of Suwayda, the capital of the eponymous province, but did not provide details on specific targets.

However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that the bombing hit a group of Bedouins. In recent days, this community has been involved in intense clashes with the Druze minority, which Israel claims to defend.

Between Monday and Wednesday night, Israel carried out a series of attacks against Syrian territory directed against Syrian government troops.

This week, the Jewish state claimed that its bombings aimed to force the Syrian army out of Suwayda to prevent the militarization of the region near the border, as well as to protect the Druze minority amid ongoing clashes.

On Wednesday, a heavy wave of Israeli bombardment rocked the General Staff headquarters and the vicinity of the Presidential Palace in Damascus. Other attacks hit various areas on the outskirts of the capital and the southern provinces of Suwayda and Deraa.

In this context, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa accused Israel on Thursday of trying to draw Syria into a conflict and create internal divisions.

“We will not give them the opportunity to embroil our people in a war they intend to ignite on our land. A war whose sole purpose is to fragment our homeland and scatter our efforts toward chaos and destruction,” he defended in an address to the nation. EFE

njd/mcd