Syria’s ruler, Ahmed al-Sharaa, acknowledged on Sunday that forces from his regime participated in violent clashes in Sweida, which Druze leaders said were ethnic massacres against their community.
Al-Sharaa, a former terrorist who fought with Al-Qaeda, said in a televised speech aired Sunday that the predominantly-Druze city of Sweida “witnessed many violations from all sides ... some members of the security forces and army in Syria also carried out some violations,” AFP reported.
The state is required “to hold all perpetrators of violations to account,” whatever their affiliation, he added.
Al-Sharaa’s remarks, released by state TV, followed demonstrations in southern Syria’s Sweida Province, where Sunni Islamist forces thought to be loyal to the Syrian strongman perpetrated massacres of the local Druze population last month, killing hundreds and triggering Israeli airstrikes on regime targets.
At the protest in Sweida, some demonstrators waved Israeli flags and called for self-determination for the region, AFP reported.
Al-Sharaa on Sunday accused Israel of meddling in his country’s south, adding in a speech: “We still have another battle ahead of us to unify Syria, and it should not be with blood and military force ..., it should be through some kind of understanding because Syria is tired of war,” according to a translation by the AFP news agency.
“I do not see Syria as at risk of division. Some people desire a process of dividing Syria and trying to establish cantons. ... this matter is impossible,” he said, according to a recording of the speech, which he reportedly delivered during a meeting with regional officials.
“Some parties seek to gain power through regional power, Israel or others. This is also extremely difficult and cannot be implemented,” he said.
“Israel is intervening directly in Sweida, seeking to implement policies aimed at weakening the state in general or finding excuses to interfere in ongoing policies in the southern region,” al-Sharaa said.
Israel has said it has acted to defend the Druze minority and to enforce its demands for the demilitarization of southern Syria.
Al-Sharaa took power in Syria following the collapse of the Assad regime in December amid a bloody civil war that has been raging since 2011. Israel preemptively took out much of the Syrian military in the days leading up to the regime change and seized elevated positions on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon.
