Damascus is on a roll. It has signed a deal with the Kurdish-led, US-backed group Syrian Democratic Forces in eastern Syria, and it may now have worked out an agreement with the Druze in Sweida in the country’s south.
Unlike the SDF, the Druze in Sweida do not have a strong military organization. During the Assad era and the Syrian civil war, they were able to run some of their own affairs locally and had their own armed militia, but they were always vulnerable. For instance, an ISIS attack on Sweida in 2018 killed approximately 200 people.
The Druze thus relied on Damascus for protection, and many served in the security forces. After the toppling of the Assad regime, the Druze were concerned the new leadership might persecute them since Syrian extremists had targeted them in the past. Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, the group that took control in December 2024, did not have a great track record regarding minorities in Syria.
However, over the last four months, many things have changed. The Druze have tried to navigate the new situation, and their leaders have met with Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Israeli officials have also said they will protect the Druze. Several incidents in Sweida showed Israeli flags being raised in the city and quickly taken down. Meanwhile, Israel has carried out airstrikes and raids in southern Syria and demanded the area be demilitarized.
Druze integration
According to Al Jazeera, on Tuesday, the Syrian government reached an agreement with the Druze leadership to integrate their area into the Syrian state institutions. Levant 24 reported, “The agreement stipulates that security agencies in Sweida will be incorporated into the Syrian Interior Ministry.
“The agreement states that local police officers must be from the people of Sweida. The agreement allows the Syrian government to appoint a governor and a police chief without requiring them to be from Sweida.”
According to a separate report, also in Qatari media, the agreement will include the deployment of 300 security forces in the area. These are apparently forces from Damascus, not the existing Druze forces. Hundreds of locals will also become part of a new police force, and a new police commander has already been chosen, with his deputy coming from the locals.
Syrian state media SANA said, “President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Ahmad al-Sharaa, has recently received [the] governor of Sweida, Mustafa Al-Bakour, and a number of activists of Sweida at the People’s Palace in Damascus.”
The report noted that “the Sweida Governorate posted on its Telegram channel that talks during the meeting dealt with important national and local issues.”
It continued, “The meeting also stressed the importance of this decisive stage in Syria’s history, during which free Syrians aspire for a homeland where justice, law, and fair representation of all spectrum of the Syrian people prevail despite the difficult regional and international circumstances and the plots being hatched against the unity of Syria, its land, and people.”
Israel has vowed over the past months to protect the Druze. It would appear that if this agreement moves forward, they may not need protection. That would mean that two groups that Israel sought to support in Syria, the Kurds and Druze, are now moving closer to integration with the new government in Damascus.