Damascus: Syrian and Israeli leaders have reached a ceasefire agreement under the auspices of the United States after deadly sectarian clashes in southern Syria prompted Israeli intervention with massive strikes recently.
US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack announced the truce early on Saturday, saying that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Syrian interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, under the sponsorship of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, agreed to a cessation of hostilities.
The deal is also backed by regional players, including Turkey, Jordan, and Syria’s other neighbours.
“We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and, together with other minorities, build a new and united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with its neighbours,” Barrack said in a post on social media.
The ceasefire deal followed six days of fierce sectarian clashes in the southern province of Sweida, which left hundreds dead and triggered fears of a broader, regional escalation.
Under the truce deal, Syrian government security and military institutions will be allowed to re-enter all parts of Sweida, according to sources cited by local TV reports.
The deal stipulates the dissolution of all local factions, the handover of heavy weapons, and the integration of former fighters into state security structures.
The spiritual leadership of the Druze community issued a statement welcoming the ceasefire, expressing readiness to end the ongoing hostilities and calling for a return to “wisdom and reason.”
The agreement came amid mounting humanitarian concerns in Sweida, where United Nations convoys were recently blocked from entering conflict zones, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Syrian authorities have yet to comment on the ceasefire deal.
A sudden eruption of violence in Syria’s southern province of Sweida had triggered a complex and escalating crisis, exposing the deep fragility of Syria’s stability just six months after the collapse of the previous government and sending shockwaves across the region.
Over the past week, Sweida had witnessed some of the deadliest intra-Syrian clashes in years. The fighting, initially sparked by a local dispute between the Druze community and Bedouin tribesmen, quickly escalated into a full-blown urban conflict involving Syrian government forces.
By Thursday, nearly 600 people were reported killed, including dozens of civilians and hundreds of fighters from all sides, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
(IANS)
