South Syria death toll passes 1,000, including 194 ‘summarily executed’ Druze, says watchdog

By AFP 20 July 2025, 1:17 pm

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Tribal and Bedouin fighters cross Walga town as they mobilize amid clashes near the predominantly Druze city of Sweida in southern Syria on July 19, 2025 (Abdulaziz KETAZ / AFP)

A Syria monitor says that the death toll from violence in the country’s south involving Bedouin and Druze fighters, as well as government forces, armed tribes and Israel, has topped 1,000.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says those killed since last Sunday include 336 Druze fighters and 298 civilians from the religious minority group, 194 of whom were “summarily executed by defense and interior ministry personnel.”

The dead also include 342 government security personnel and 21 Sunni Bedouin, three of them civilians “summarily executed by Druze fighters.” Another 15 government forces were killed in Israeli strikes, the Observatory says.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.