Barrack Calls for Holding Syrian Government Accountable for Suwayda Clashes

AP

U.S. Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack.

U.S. Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack confirmed that the Syrian government must be held accountable for the recent clashes that took place in Syria's southern province of Suwayda.

Speaking to the press after his meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Beirut, Barrack said, "America is responding to developments in Suwayda with incredible concern, pain, sympathy, and assistance," calling for "holding the Syrian government accountable."

Clashes continued for a week between militias of the Druze religious minority and the Sunni Muslim clans in Suwayda before ending following a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, killing hundreds and threatened to unravel Syria’s already fragile post-war transition. Israel also launched dozens of airstrikes in the Druze-majority Suwayda province, targeting government forces who had effectively sided with the Bedouins.

The clashes also led to a series of targeted sectarian attacks against the Druze community, followed by revenge attacks against the Bedouins. A series of tit-for-tat kidnappings sparked the clashes in various towns and villages in the province, which later spread to Suwayda city, the provincial capital.

Government forces deployed in the area sided with the Bedouins against the Druze community. in response Israel carried out several air strikes against Damascus, vowing to protect the Druze community, who have a community in Israel.

The UN International Organisation for Migration said 128,571 people were displaced during the clashes, including 43,000 on Saturday alone.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Sunday that the death toll from ongoing violence in Suwayda has exceeded 1,000, according to the latest figures compiled since the outbreak of clashes in southern Syria.

Rami Abdulrahman, Director of the Observatory, stated: “The death toll since Sunday morning, 13 July, resulting from clashes, field executions, and Israeli bombardment, has reached 1,017.”

The Observatory called for the formation of an “independent and impartial United Nations investigation committee” to probe all violations committed since the beginning of the escalation, including the deliberate targeting of civilians and mass field executions. It stressed that “those responsible must be held accountable in accordance with international law and humanitarian standards.”

The organisation also warned against further polarisation within Syrian society, noting that the support provided to Arab tribes by the government — and their movement through official security checkpoints toward As-Suwayda — risks exacerbating tensions rather than containing the conflict and halting the bloodshed.



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