The spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, Muwaffaq Tarif, said that Washington must fulfill its duty to protect the rights of Syrian minorities in order to bolster stability in Syria, adding that “American support would obviate any Israeli intervention in southern Syria.”
In an interview with the US agency Reuters, conducted during a visit to the United Nations in Geneva, Tarif said on Tuesday, “We hope that the United States, President Trump, and America as a global power, will guarantee the rights of all minorities in Syria, to prevent any new massacres,” as he put it.
In September, the US State Department said on its account on X that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had expressed “optimism” about progress made on the Suwayda roadmap, which aims to strengthen accountability and reconciliation, ensure justice for victims of what it termed “atrocities,” and “protect minority rights in Syria.”
The Suwayda roadmap was previously announced in September by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, and US Envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack, as a framework intended “to guarantee rights, support justice, strengthen social reconciliation, and open the way to healing wounds.”
Has Tarif’s position changed?
Sheikh Tarif reaffirmed the need for self-determination in Suwayda (southern Syria) and for guarantees of rights and security for all minorities, saying that “it is unreasonable to ask the Druze to hand over their weapons.”
In August, Sheikh Tarif met US Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack in the French capital Paris, and called on the US administration to act on several points related to the Suwayda agreement, according to a statement he published on his Facebook page. The main points were:
Consolidating a comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire in Suwayda. Opening a secure land corridor, with US guarantees, to deliver humanitarian aid to Suwayda province. Lifting the siege on Suwayda province. Working for the release of abductees and the return of displaced residents to Druze villages in the western and northern foothills.Asked about the possibility of resuming talks between Damascus and Suwayda, Tarif told Reuters that trust must be rebuilt by allowing displaced people to return to their homes and ensuring full humanitarian access to Suwayda.
“There is no trust today, trust must be rebuilt,” the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel added.
Protests in Suwayda
The Suwayda News Network (SNN) said that a large demonstration set off from al-Saraya Square in Suwayda under the slogan “The right to self determination for the people of Suwayda,” heading toward al-Karama Square.
The network noted on Wednesday, 10 December, that the demonstration sends a strong message to the entire world that Suwayda rejects submission to what it described as the “de facto authorities,” and affirms that decisions in Jabal al-Suwayda will remain in the hands of its people alone, as a peaceful model of coexistence that upholds the principles of freedom and dignity, away from the “rule of terror and its extremist policies,” as the network put it.
According to video footage posted by the network, demonstrators raised flags of the Druze community and banners reading “Right to self-determination.” Through these slogans, they called for what they described as a “return to the borders of 13 July 2025,” a reference to the advance of Syrian government forces on that date into the administrative borders of Suwayda province, following clashes between local factions and Bedouin groups in western Suwayda.
Tarif calls for Israeli protection
In July, Tarif issued a statement calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz “to fulfill their commitment to protect the Druze in Syria.”
In a statement carried by the Times of Israel, Tarif said that a “terrible and brutal massacre” was taking place “at this very hour in Jabal al-Druze in southern Syria, where innocent civilians, women, children, and elderly people are being killed in cold blood,” as he put it.
He added, “Unfortunately, the Israeli army and the Israeli government are taking no real action to stop this killing, despite their explicit promises.”
The spiritual leader called for “immediate airstrikes that would thwart the criminal forces operating in southern Syria,” warning that if decisive action was not taken, “the crisis between us and the State of Israel will worsen in a serious and unprecedented way. Silence and standing by as spectators are no longer possible.”
Events in Suwayda
Suwayda province is living through a unique military and security reality. The Syrian government that took power after the fall of the former regime has not imposed full control over it, and the previous regime also had not held effective military control there in recent years.
Tensions in the province began on 12 July, following tit for tat kidnappings between residents of the al-Maqous neighbourhood, which has a majority Bedouin population, and local factions loyal to Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri. These escalated into clashes the following day.
Government forces, tribal fighters, and local factions committed mutual violations against civilians from Bedouin tribes and others from the Druze community during the fighting.
The city is now experiencing relative calm under a ceasefire agreement. While activists and local actors inside Suwayda accuse the government of besieging the city, the authorities say they are sending aid convoys into the area on an almost daily basis.
On 16 August, demonstrators raised Druze flags and the Israeli flag in al-Karama Square in central Suwayda under the slogan “Right to self-determination.”
The demonstration carried slogans rejecting “federalism” and calling for “full independence” from Syria, alongside chants saluting Druze religious leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri.
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