BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel has agreed to allow limited access by Syrian forces into the Sweida area of southern Syria for the next two days, an Israeli official said on Friday after days of bloodshed in and around Syria’s Druze city of Sweida
“In light of the ongoing instability in southwest Syria, Israel has agreed to allow limited entry of the (Syrian) internal security forces into Sweida district for the next 48 hours,” the official, who declined to be named, told reporters.
Syria’s interior ministry spokesperson said on Friday that government forces were not preparing to redeploy to Sweida Province, the state news agency reported.
Syrian troops withdrew from Sweida after a truce was announced on Wednesday, but clashes resumed late on Thursday between fighters from Bedouin tribes and the Druze, who are part of a religious minority in Syria that has followers in Lebanon and Israel.
The clashes in parts of Sweida province continued into Friday, according to residents of Sweida and Ryan Marouf, the head of local news outlet Sweida24.
Damascus had this week deployed troops to Sweida, which is adjacent to territory controlled by Israel, to try to quell some of the most intense internal fighting in Syria since the interim government took power late last year.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights monitoring group said it had documented 254 dead in four days of fighting, among them medical personnel, women and children.
Israel became involved in the hostilities on Wednesday. It said it would not allow Syria’s Islamist-led government to deploy troops to the south, attacked Syrian troops in Sweida and Syria’s defence ministry, and struck close to the presidential palace in Damascus.
Describing Syria’s new rulers as barely disguised jihadists, Israel has vowed to shield the area’s Druze community from attack, encouraged by calls from Israel’s own Druze minority.
Israel’s military carried out new attacks in Sweida province overnight.
U.N. AGENCIES’ CONCERNS
The head of the U.N. human rights office urged Syria’s interim authorities to ensure accountability justice for what it said are credible reports of widespread rights violations during the fighting, including summary executions and kidnappings, the office said in a statement.
At least 13 people were unlawfully killed in one recorded incident on July 15 when affiliates of the interim authorities opened fire at a family gathering, the OHCHR said. Six men were summarily executed near their homes the same day.
The UN refugee agency on Friday urged all sides to allow humanitarian access, which it said had been curtailed by the violence.
Israel’s deep distrust of Syria’s new Islamist-led leadership appears to be at odds with the United States, which said it did not support the recent Israeli strikes on Syria.
The U.S. intervened to help secure the earlier truce between government forces and Druze fighters, and the White House said on Thursday that it appeared to be holding.
Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has worked to establish warmer ties with the U.S., accused Israel of trying to fracture Syria and promised to protect its Druze minority.
(Reporting by Maya Gebeily in Beirut, Crispian Balmer in Jerusalem and Olivia Le Poidevin in Geneva; Writing by Andrew Mills and Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Barbara Lewis, Rachna Uppal and Timothy Heritage)
