Name: Almost 600 killed in recent south Syria violence, monitoring group says | BBC News
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The Syrian government says it's preparing to redeploy security forces to quell fighting between the Druze and Bedouin tribes in the southern city of Suweda.

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Nearly 600 people in Suweda are reported to have been killed since Sunday in sectarian violence between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes loyal to the government.

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The Syrian troops' redeployment comes as the Trump administration has issued a rare rebuke to Israel, saying it didn't support its strikes on Syria this week.

Israel bombed both the capital Damascus, these were strikes on government buildings on Wednesday, and Suweda, carrying out fresh strikes on Thursday evening.

It says its intervention is to protect the Druze minority.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the U.S. condemns the violence in Syria and is actively engaging all sides there.

She had this to say on the Israeli strikes.

The United States did not support recent Israeli strikes.

We are engaging diplomatically with Israel and Syria at the highest levels, both to address the present crisis and reach a lasting agreement between the two sovereign states.

President Trump has outlined his clear vision of a prosperous Middle East and stable Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors.

Peace among neighbors, including Israel and Syria, is a critical component of this vision.

Let's go live to Damascus now and our Middle East correspondent Lina Sinjab.

So a rare rebuke, Lina, how has that been received?

Well, you know, basically this is a clear message that the Americans want to support this government.

They don't want to be seen as, you know, appraising an Israeli attack that will and actually weakened this government.

However, many people we spoke to said that probably without these Israeli strikes, a peace, you know, a ceasefire deal wouldn't have taken place.

Now, we've heard reports about, you know, possible redeployment of security forces rather than a military ones by the official government here.

We still haven't had any confirmation on where they are heading, on how they are heading.

But talking to some people, it seems they're waiting for some sort of an agreement with forces inside Suwayda to be able to advance and head towards the city there.

And what is the situation overnight in terms of any action that has happened and what were the targets?

Well, many, you know, tribal fighters have gathered in different areas around the city of Suwayda.

Some people told me they are located four to five kilometers surrounding the city, and they were located on two main entrances, one to the north and one to the west of the city.

And this is where exactly the two, you know, the two areas that Israelis did some strikes yesterday to deter these, you know, tribal fighters from advancing into the city.

The problem is that there are lots of hatred messages coming out, lots of incitement coming out, pushing many Sunni youth or fighters or whoever is affiliated with the government to go for revenge killing.

They're blaming the situation on one tribal, on one Druze leader, mainly al-Hajri.

They are accusing him of being supported by Israel and calling on Israel to protect the Druze, something that he denied, of course, but that's giving a justification for the fighters to move in.

And there are many calls to de-escalate the situation and stop the killing in Suwayda, basically, because it's all based on sectarian tension that will not serve the unity of the country.

Lina, for the moment, thank you very much.

Well, let's speak to an Israeli political analyst and fellow at the Think Tank Century International.

Dalia, thank you for joining us here on BBC News.

How much attention are these strikes getting in Israel?

Well, they're getting a huge amount of attention.

I think it's interesting to note just how much their attention they're getting.

I wouldn't say it's wrong or surprising entirely because it is a very dramatic situation that affects all of the Druze who live in the north in the Golan Heights, which, of course, those are families who were separated by the 1967 war when Israel first occupied and then annexed the Golan Heights.

And of course, it's a great public concern because there has always been fear in Israel of the new regime, the Ashara al-Jilani regime.

But I would say that it has, in a way, muscled out almost everything else that has taken a bit of a backseat over the last couple of days, which, again, not to underestimate how important this issue is.

But when you consider that Israel is in the throes of a not very successful negotiation indirectly with Hamas in Qatar during this phase, trying to reach a deal to release hostages in Gaza after the prime minister's visit to Washington, during which people don't really know what the outcome of that was and the anticipation of a ceasefire, which hasn't happened, in a way, it almost feels like the news and the government is focusing particularly on the situation in Syria as a bit of a distraction.

I wouldn't say it's planned that way, but that has been in practice what has taken over the news cycle over the last couple of days.

What difference do you think it will make that the United States has unusually rebuked the Netanyahu government for these strikes against Syria?

Well, there is definitely an attempt to avoid any appearance and actual policy that involves disagreement with the U.S.

So I think there is certainly very close coordination and an attempt to convey that Israel won't go against U.S. wishes entirely.

However, it is worth pointing out that there has, I don't think it's a secret, that there has been a difference of opinion on this the entire time.

It's one of the, it was one of the American policy of basically embracing the Ashara regime, the new government, Trump visiting, Trump meeting with him and shaking his hand and also canceling the sanctions on Syria was, you know, received mixed reactions in Israel.

And the Netanyahu government has made a big effort to portray this as a bad jihadi regime that is dangerous and, you know, that Israel maintains, you know, significant suspicions towards this regime.

On the other hand, there has also been a somewhat of a contradictory perspective of the Israeli government, which has been holding some sort of back-channel negotiations, as we understand, to possibly reach some sort of a security agreement.

But of course, Israel will not want to be seen as going fundamentally against American interests here.

Dalia Scheindlin from the think tank Century International.

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Almost 600 killed in recent south Syria violence, monitoring group says | BBC News

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