The Syrian government announced that its internal security forces began deploying in Sweida on Saturday, while the presidency called on all sides to respect a ceasefire after bloodshed in the predominantly Druze area that has left hundreds dead.
The Syrian presidency announced an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire in a statement and called on all sides to commit to it and immediately cease hostilities in all areas.
A spokesman for the Syrian Interior Ministry said earlier in the day that internal security forces had begun deploying in Sweida, in southern Syria.
US mediator Tom Barrack announced on Friday that Syria and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire. Israel intervened in the conflict earlier this week, attacking government forces and the defence ministry building in Damascus while expressing support for the Druze minority.
Barrack, who is also the US ambassador to Turkey and Washington’s Syria mediator, said that Israel and Syria had agreed to a ceasefire supported by Turkey, Jordan and neighbouring countries.
The Syrian province of Sweida has been gripped by nearly a week of violence that began with clashes between Bedouin fighters and Druze factions before government security forces sent by Damascus to the area intervened.
Barrack said Israel and Syria had agreed to a ceasefire and called on Druze, Bedouin and Sunnis to lay down their arms “and build a new and unified Syrian identity together with other minorities.”
Israel says it wants to protect Syria’s Druze minority while also wanting areas of southern Syria near the border to remain demilitarized. President Ahmed al-Sharaa has accused Israel of seeking to sow division among Syrians.
On Friday, an Israeli official said Israel had agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to the Sweida area for the next two days, Reuters reported.
