The Southern Syria conflict is an ongoing conflict in southern Syria between Druze militias and the Syrian transitional government. Since the fall of the Assad regime, the conflict has centered around control of Druze-majority areas in Suwayda Governorate and conflict with local Muslim Bedouins. In October 2025, The New York Times reported that over 1,300 people had been killed in the violence, mostly Druze civilians.
Following demonstrations of the Druze minority in Israel, demanding government action to protect the Druze of Syria against alleged persecution, Israel launched airstrikes in support of the Druze. There are accusations that the transitional government is imposing a blockade on the self-governed, Druze-majority regions, and that this blockade intensified in late August 2026.
Background
The Druze largely remained neutral during the Syrian civil war. There are communities in Lebanon, Israel and Golan Heights, representing about three percent of Syria's population.
On 31 December 2024, the As-Suwayda Joint Operations Room did not allow a convoy from the Syrian transitional government to enter Suwayda, after coordinating with the leader of the Ahrar Jabal al-Arab, Suleiman Abdul Baqi.
The local Druze factions were excluded from the Syrian Revolution Victory Conference, where it was attended by the commanders of various armed revolutionary factions that fought for the Syrian opposition coalition against the deposed regime of Bashar al-Assad, in January 2025.
In February 2025, local sources in Syria's Quneitra Governorate reported to Al Arabiya alleging that that the IDF had extended "tempting offers" of employment opportunities to residents of Syria.
Druze factions in Syria are divided in their approach to the new authorities, ranging from cautious to outright rejection. In March 2025, Bahaa al-Jamal, a Druze commander in Suwayda, stated that massacres of Syrian Alawites by pro-government Islamist fighters had led to insecurity for other minorities, but the Druze had significant military capabilities with "thousands of military personnel" and the right to defend themselves if confronted by government forces.
Tensions continued in late April 2025 after the spread of an offensive audio recording allegedly containing blasphemous content against the Islamic prophet Muhammad, allegedly attributed to a Druze scholar named Marwan Kiwan, who disavowed it.
Timeline
2025
February
On 28 February 2025, unidentified armed individuals fired upon a vehicle carrying Druze civilians traveling on a road leading to Damascus International Airport within Jaramana. Two elderly individuals suffered injuries in this attack, and were both hospitalized. In response to these incidents, the General Security Service initiated a comprehensive security operation throughout Jaramana beginning on 28 February. Security forces reinforced positions at city entry points and deployed substantial personnel numbers around Jaramana to pursue suspected individuals considered responsible for the violence. Reports indicated that security forces intended to storm into Jaramana.
March
On 1 March, clashes broke out between Syrian caretaker government forces and local Druze armed groups responsible for community protection in Jaramana, during the security operation launched by Syrian authorities on the suburb. Members of the Jaramana Shield Brigade were involved in the clashes. During a violent altercation which erupted in Al-Seuof Square between two General Security Service members and local armed residents, one local gunman sustained serious injuries, requiring hospitalization, while authorities took the two security personnel into custody.
In the clash at Al-Seuof Square, the wounded local gunman was taken to Al-Mujtahed Hospital for medical treatment. But Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham militants arrived at the hospital where the situation escalated when one of the wounded man's escorts allegedly made blasphemous remarks about Allah. This prompted members of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham present at the hospital to physically assault and subsequently detain the companions, resulting in one confirmed fatality among security forces.
The clashes ended on 2 March 2025, after the entry of General Security Service into Jaramana.
A meeting was held in March 2025 between Druze spiritual leader Hikmat al-Hijri, Yahya Al-Hajjar, the head of the Men of Dignity, Suleiman Abdul Baqi, the leader of Ahrar Jabal al-Arab, and Shakib Azam, the leader of Al-Jabal Brigade, in which it was agreed that the General Security Service would be "re-activated" in the governorate, as long as the people involved were from Suwayda. The Guest House of Dignity also announced its support for the initiative, in response to the initiative, other Druze militias threatened to burn general security vehicles.
April
The incidents began in Jaramana at approximately 2:00 a.m. on 28 April 2025, when an unidentified group opened fire on a local militia checkpoint near the "Al-Naseem" intersection at the entrance of Jaramana. Gunfire continued and intensified around 4:00 a.m., leading to the deaths of at least two members of the security forces and six residents of the city. Over ten others were injured in the initial wave of violence. Local factions imposed heightened security measures, erecting checkpoints and restricting movement into and out of the city.
On 29 April 2025, clashes expanded to the Druze-majority towns of Sahnaya and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya. Armed groups attacked multiple security checkpoints using machine guns and RPGs. The fighting briefly paused, but continued after reinforcements arrived from Daraa. Hussam Waruar, the head of the Sahnaya Municipality, was killed along with his son on 1 May by unidentified gunmen. The unidentified groups killed the Druze leader, Wajdi al-Hajj Ali, who was shot in the head and died on 30 April 2025 before reaching the hospital.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Ministry of Defense executed civilians at a poultry farm outside the town of Sahnaya.
The SOHR stated that the Ministry of Defense ambushed Druze coming from Suwayda towards Sahnaya, resulting in 43 deaths. Some of the bodies were burned and others mutilated while the perpetrators (from the Ministry of Interior) reportedly chanted anti-Druze slogans.
May
Clashes erupted between Sweida factions, and armed groups gathered around the village of Kanaker, west of Sweida. This coincided with clashes in the towns of Ira, Rasas and al-Soura al-Kabira. The shrine and museum of Issam Zahreddine, a late Druze military officer and former commander of the Syrian Republican Guard, was vandalized and burned in al-Soura al-Kabira. General security vehicles were ambushed on 7 May by what state media called "outlaw groups" affiliated with the Suwayda Military Council. Druze leader Hikmat al-Hijri declared that "There is no consensus between us and the Damascus government". That same day, videos were released showing Burkan al-Furat, a group from Deir ez-Zor, bombing the city of Suwayda and the "al-Hijri militias" from Daraa Governorate. According to activist Samer Salloum, it was the Syrian transitional government that allowed entry into the south.
On 21 May 2025, an armed group, "led by Fadi Nasr, with support from Tariq al-Nagoush", took Mustafa al-Bakour, the governor of Suwayda governorate, hostage at the town hall, demanding and securing the release of Raghib Qarqout, who is a convicted car thief. The Men of Dignity movement was mobilised and secured the governor's exit route from the building, while the Al-Jabal Brigade engaged with the gunmen. Al-Bakour submitted his resignation two days later.
On 22 May, the Islamic State claimed attacks in Al-Safa, in Suwayda Governorate, against the Ministry of Defense, being the first attack by the Islamic State against the Syrian transitional government, since the Fall of Assad.
June
On 2 June, unidentified groups attacked a General Security Service checkpoint in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, in Rif Dimashq Governorate, killing 3 of them.
On 10 June, the city of Umm Dhibi, in rural Suwayda, was attacked with mortars, but no injuries were reported.
On 24 June, Mustafa al-Bakour resumed his post as governor of the Suwayda governorate and met with al-Hijri in Qanawat and Hammoud al-Hinnawi at Al-Hikma hospital.
July
The violence began on 11 July, after a Druze vegetable merchant was assaulted by members of Bedouin tribes after they set up an improvised roadblock. The Bedouin attackers subjected him to sectarian insults and repeated death threats during his detention. He was later released to a remote village while blindfolded and in critical condition. In response, local Druze armed groups detained several individuals from Bedouin tribes the next day in an effort to recover the stolen property. This initiated a cycle of retaliatory kidnappings between the two sides, which quickly escalated into open armed clashes.
On 13 July, the Bedouin fighters responded by establishing a checkpoint in the al-Maqwas neighborhood in eastern Suwayda city, where they captured several members of the local Druze armed groups. Armed clashes soon erupted between the two sides in and around the area, the clashes spread to at-Tira, al-Mazraa, and as-Sawra al-Kabira. Bedouins from Daraa Governorate arrived to the area to assist the Bedouin fighters.
On 14 July, video was released showing a General Security vehicle, including a person making sectarian statements, declaring his participation in the conflict. Hikmat al-Hijri issued a statement demanding an urgent call for international protection, reiterating the leadership's rejection of any security force entering their areas, the General Security Service and another unidentified agency, accusing them of crossing into the province under the pretext of providing protection while bombing border villages and supporting extremist groups with heavy weaponry and drones. Shelling was reported in the neighboring Daraa Governorate, in which four civilians were wounded by a Druze group from the town of Al-Thaalah and among the villages controlled by Druze groups. Israeli aircraft were seen conducting low-altitude flights over the western countryside of Suwayda, deploying flares, the Israeli Army later announced that it had struck multiple tanks belonging to the Syrian Army in Suwayda Governorate. However a tank was repaired and was deployed again in an hour, The Syrian Arab News Agency reported a total of three Israeli strikes.
On 15 July, the Syrian Minister of Defense announced that a ceasefire had been reached with Druze spiritual leadership in Suwayda to cooperate with the Interior and Defense Forces and to surrender their weapons, though it was denied by Hikmat al-Hijri who declared that he would "resist this brutal campaign by all available means", including women, children, and elderly fighting, accusing government forces of violating the ceasefire by shelling Suwayda. Israel conducted further strikes in al-Mazraa after the Syrian Armed Forces took control of the town. Strikes were also reported on the outskirts of Suwayda. Intensive airstrikes continued across Suwayda following the announcement of a ceasefire. The airstrikes targeted military equipment and convoys. One Syrian army convoy was struck in Suwayda, resulting in at least one casualty. The Mar Mikhael Church in the town of as-Sawra al-Kabira was robbed, vandalized, and burned. The group Men of Dignity announced over 50 of their members killed or injured in Suwayda clashes.