Syrian government and leaders of the Druze minority announce new ceasefire

By ABDELRAHMAN SHAHEEN and KAREEM CHEHAYEB DAMASCUS Syria AP Syrian leadership personnel and leaders in the Druze religious minority informed Wednesday a renewed ceasefire after days of clashes that have threatened to unravel the country s postwar political transition and have drawn intervention by Syria s powerful neighbor Israel Related Articles Here s what triggered the latest deadly violence in Syria and why it matters Currently in History July Trinity nuclear weapon test Global views of China and Xi improve while they decline about the US and Trump survey says Netanyahu s governing coalition is fracturing Here s what it means for Israel and Gaza What if we stay in Mexico With chances in the US dashed foreigners make new lives south of limit It was not right away clear if the new agreement which was reported by Syrian state media and in a video message by a Druze religious leader would hold A previous ceasefire communicated the day before fleetly fell apart The announcement came after Israel launched a series of rare airstrikes in the heart of Damascus part of a campaign that it explained is intended to defend the Druze who also form a substantial society in Israel and to push Islamic militants away from its demarcation The escalating violence has appeared to be the bulk serious threat yet to the ability of Syria s new rulers to consolidate control of the country after a rebel offensive led by Islamist insurgent groups ousted longtime despotic leader Bashar Assad in December bringing an end to a nearly -year civil war As clashes have raged for days in the southern Syrian city of Sweida between ruling body forces and Druze armed groups Israel has launched dozens of strikes targeting administration troops and convoys and on Wednesday struck the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters in the heart of Damascus That strike killed one person and injured Syrian personnel mentioned Another strike hit near the presidential palace in the hills outside of Damascus Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared after the airstrike in a post on X that the painful blows have begun An Israeli military official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations mentioned the army was preparing for a multitude of scenarios and that a brigade normally comprising thousands of soldiers was being pulled out of Gaza and sent to the Golan Heights Syria s Defense Ministry had earlier blamed militias in the Druze-majority area of Sweida for violating a ceasefire agreement that had been reached Tuesday causing Syrian army soldiers to return fire It revealed they were adhering to rules of engagement to protect residents prevent harm and ensure the safe return of those who left the city back to their homes Meanwhile reports of attacks on civilians continued to surface and Druze with family members in the conflict zone searched desperately for information about their fate amid communication blackouts The primarily Sunni Muslim leaders have faced suspicion from religious and ethnic minorities whose fears increased after clashes between administration forces and pro-Assad armed groups in March spiraled into sectarian revenge attacks Hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority to which Assad belongs were killed Syrian Druze protest near the Israeli-Syrian edge as seen from the town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights Wednesday July amid the ongoing clashes between Syrian cabinet forces and Druze armed groups in the southern Syrian city of Sweida AP Photo Leo Correa Druze from Syria and Israel protest on the Israeli-Syrian dividing line in Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights Wednesday July amid the ongoing clashes between Syrian administration forces and Druze armed groups in the southern Syrian city of Sweida AP Photo Leo Correa In this photo distributed by the Syrian official news agency SANA smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike that hit the Syrian Defense Ministry in Damascus Syria Wednesday July SANA via AP In this photo issued by the Syrian official news agency SANA smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike that hit the Syrian Defence Ministry in Damascus Syria Wednesday July SANA via AP Smoke rise from clashes between Syrian ruling body forces and Druze militias in Sweida city southern Syria Tuesday July AP Photo Omar Sanadiki Show Caption of Syrian Druze protest near the Israeli-Syrian perimeter as seen from the town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights Wednesday July amid the ongoing clashes between Syrian governing body forces and Druze armed groups in the southern Syrian city of Sweida AP Photo Leo Correa Expand Druze fear for the lives of their relatives in Sweida In Jaramana near the Syrian capital Evelyn Azzam revealed she fears that her husband Robert Kiwan is dead The newlyweds live in the Damascus suburb but Kiwan would commute to Sweida for work each morning and got trapped there when the clashes erupted Azzam stated she was on the phone with Kiwan when precaution forces questioned him and a colleague about whether they were affiliated with Druze militias When her husband s colleague raised his voice she heard a gunshot Kiwan was then shot while trying to appeal They shot my husband in the hip from what I could gather she stated struggling to hold back tears The ambulance took him to the hospital Since then we have no idea what has happened A Syrian Druze from Sweida living in the United Arab Emirates revealed her mother father and sister were hiding in a basement in their home near the hospital where they could hear the sound of shelling and bullets from outside She spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear her family might be targeted She had struggled to get hold of them but when she reached them she stated I heard them cry I have never heard them this way before Another Druze woman living in the UAE with family members in Sweida who also spoke on condition of anonymity commented a cousin notified her that a house where their relatives lived had been burned down with everyone inside it It reminded her of when the Islamic State extremist group attacked Sweida in she reported Her uncle was among multiple civilians there who took arms to fight back while Assad s forces stood aside He was killed in the fighting It s the same right now she narrated The Associated Press The Druze fighters she declared are just people who are protecting their province and their families The Druze religious sect began as a th-century offshoot of Ismailism a branch of Shiite Islam More than half of the roughly million Druze worldwide live in Syria Majority of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel including in the Golan Heights which Israel captured from Syria in the Mideast War and annexed in Reports of killings and looting in Druze areas The latest escalation in Syria began with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze armed factions in the southern province Establishment forces that intervened to restore order then clashed with the Druze Videos surfaced on social media of government-affiliated fighters forcibly shaving the mustaches of Druze sheikhs and stepping on Druze flags and pictures of religious clerics Other videos presented Druze fighters beating captured authorities forces and posing by their dead bodies AP reporters in the area saw burned and looted houses No official casualty figures have been disclosed since Monday when the Syrian Interior Ministry declared people had been killed The U K -based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced more than people had been killed as of Wednesday morning including four children five women and soldiers and protection forces The observatory revealed at least people were killed in field executions Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa issued a message Wednesday condemning the violations These criminal and illegal actions cannot be accepted under any circumstances and entirely contradicts the principles that the Syrian state is built on the declaration read vowing that perpetrators whether from individuals or organizations outside of the law will be held accountable legally and we will never allow this to happen without punishment Druze in the Golan gathered along the perimeter fence to protest the violence against Druze in Syria Israel threatens to scale up its intervention In Israel the Druze are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the military In Syria the Druze have been divided over how to deal with the country s new leaders with certain advocating for integrating into the new system while others remained suspicious and pushed for an autonomous Druze region On Wednesday Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced in a announcement that the Israeli army will continue to attack regime forces until they withdraw from the area and will also soon raise the bar of responses against the regime if the message is not understood Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed in a message Tuesday night that Israel has a commitment to preserve the southwestern region of Syria as a demilitarized area on Israel s limit and has an obligation to safeguard the Druze locals Israel has taken an aggressive stance toward Syria s new leaders since Assad s fall saying it doesn t want Islamist militants near its borders Israeli forces have seized a U N -patrolled buffer zone on Syrian territory along the demarcation with the Golan Heights and launched hundreds of airstrikes on military sites in Syria Chehayeb announced from Beirut Associated Press writers Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv and Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this analysis