Syrian government said to reach deal to fully integrate southern Druze province
Sweida’s security services reportedly to come under Interior Ministry, with residents able to join civil service; separately, interim president says trying to be patient with Israel
Syria’s interim government has reached an agreement to integrate the Druze-majority southern province of Sweida into state institutions, multiple media outlets reported Tuesday.
According to the terms of the reported deal, Druze security groups in the area will be under the control of the Syrian Interior Ministry and a police force will be drawn from the local population.
There will also be a governor and police chief appointed for the province, who will not necessarily be from the area.
The deal, which is expected to be signed in the coming days, was reported by Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, and the Al-Hadath outlets.
It came a day after the Syrian government announced that it had signed a similar deal with Kurdish authorities.
Syria’s new government under interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has sought to disband armed groups and establish government control over the entirety of the country since ousting long-time leader Bashar al-Assad in December, after more than 13 years of civil war.
Sweida borders Jordan but not Israel. Many of its residents who protested against the Assad regime in recent years have also protested against Israel’s airstrikes and military push into the country since the fall of the government to Sharaa’s rebel forces.
The deal would grant Druze residents of Sweida the right to serve in state civil institutions. In addition, Syria’s security services will be permitted to operate in all areas of the region and take over police stations and other security centers, Al-Arabiya and Al-Hadath reported.
On Monday, the Syrian presidency announced an agreement with the head of the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to integrate the institutions of the autonomous Kurdish administration in the northeast into the national government.
Since the downfall of Assad, Israel has pushed its forces into southern Syria, taking over a buffer zone that had previously been controlled by the UN and establishing at least nine military posts to be held indefinitely, demanding southern Syria’s “full demilitarization.”
It has also carried out wide-ranging strikes to destroy Syrian military equipment, saying the measure is geared to prevent the weapons from falling into the hands of hostile elements. Another series of airstrikes was carried out Monday.
There are Druze communities in the buffer zone. Since the zone’s establishment, Israel has made overtures to the Druze and is preparing to initiate a scheme for Druze residents of southern Syria to enter its borders for work on the Golan Heights.
Israeli leaders have also publicly warned Syria’s government not to harm the Druze in southwestern Syria and have regularly spoken with foreign leaders about the importance of protecting them, along with Syria’s Kurds. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the Israel Defense Forces to “prepare to defend” the Druze-majority city of Jaramana on the outskirts of the capital Damascus after reports that authorities from the new Syrian government have been clashing with local Druze gunmen during a security campaign.
Interim president Sharaa said Tuesday he’s trying to respond to Israeli moves in Syria with “patience and wisdom.”
Speaking to Reuters, Sharaa rejected Israeli accusations that his new government poses a threat to the Jewish state. Israeli leaders have kept up a strident verbal campaign against Sharaa, calling him an “al-Qaeda terrorist.”
“We are trying to use patience and wisdom as much as possible. If there are fears, we have announced from the first moments that Syria will not pose a threat to any state in the region or the world. And if there are expansionist motives, the entire world agreed with Syria to condemn Israel’s steps in advancing on Syrian territory,” he said.
In response to Israeli accusations that his forces could carry out a cross-border attack into Israel, Sharaa said: “I mean, a delusional person can say whatever they want. Every person can imagine that he is suffering from some danger and carry out a preemptive strike and kill. But that is not justifiable.”
Sharaa also addressed other issues, including violence in coastal areas where there are Alawite sects who were loyal to Assad. Fighting that erupted there last week is said to have killed over 1,000 people, mostly civilians. Syria’s Islamist-led government on Monday said it had completed a military operation against a nascent insurgency.
“Many of the parties that lost in the battle of Syria and benefited from the old state in Syria worked on plans to return to Syria by inciting sectarian strife and conflicts,” Sharaa told Reuters.
He said that members of the former regime “carried out a large military attack in the coastal region.”
“This led to the killing of many security forces and some civilians, including Alawites,” he said.
“We confirm that Syria is a state of law,” Sharaa continued. “The law will take its course on all. We fought to defend the oppressed, and we won’t accept that any blood be shed unjustly, or goes without punishment or accountability, even among those closest to us.”
Asked if groups from his defense ministry were involved in the violence, he said: “We need an investigation. There are many ideas, but I do not have specifics or solid proof.”
Sharaa asserted that there are “some regional countries that want to destabilize the situation in Syria,” an apparent reference to at least Iran, which was tightly allied with Assad’s Syria and has a powerful Lebanese proxy, the Hezbollah terror group.
“We have seen their presence in more than one state, focusing on sectarian strife, spreading captagon, and political corruption,” he said. “These are three components that are present in any country they enter. But we do not yet have clear evidence on which to build conclusions or practical steps.”
