Hundreds in Syria’s Sweida demand Druze self-determination; some wave Israeli flag

SWEDIA, Syria — Hundreds demonstrate in Syria’s Sweida, denouncing last month’s sectarian violence and calling for the right to self-determination for the Druze-majority province, an AFP correspondent reports.

A week of bloodshed began on July 13 with clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin, but rapidly escalated, drawing in government forces and volunteers from other parts of Syria.

Syrian authorities have said their forces intervened to stop the clashes, but witnesses, Druze factions, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have accused them of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses against the Druze, including summary executions.

The Observatory has said the violence killed some 1,600 people, many of them Druze civilians.

In one of Sweida’s main squares, some demonstrators waved the Israeli flag, the correspondent reports.

Israel, which has its own Druze community, bombed government forces during last month’s violence, saying it was acting to defend the minority group as well as enforce its demands for the demilitarization of southern Syria.

Protesters in #Sweida , southern Syria, raise the Druze flag and the Israeli flag, chanting, "The people want to enter Israel." pic.twitter.com/hHIbTzIKLr

— Ibrahim Hamidi ابراهيم حميدي (@ibrahimhamidi) August 16, 2025

Other protesters chant “free free Sweida… Jolani out,” referring to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose nom de guerre as an Islamist rebel commander was Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.

Some hold placards, one reading “the right to self-determination is a sacred right for Sweida,” while another demanded an aid corridor from neighboring Jordan.

“Today Sweida has taken a stand… under the slogan of the right to self-determination,” resident Munif Rashid, 51, tells AFP.

“This is Sweida’s position today, and no one can blame it because the assault it faced was not normal.”

A live broadcast by the Suwayda 24 news outlet shows a woman telling the applauding crowd: “We do not want self-administration or federal rule, we want full independence.”

Demonstrator Mustafa Sehnawi, who says he is a US-Syrian dual national, tells AFP: “We’ve been under siege for more than one month. “We call on the international community… to open (humanitarian) corridors.”