Overview

• Fatality estimates vary between at least 37 and 89 people, including Druze, Bedouins and government soldiers, with dozens more wounded
• The unrest began after a Druze youth was robbed on the Damascus–Suwaida highway, prompting reprisal kidnappings and armed confrontations
• Damascus dispatched security forces to restore order, but observers report some units joined Bedouin fighters during the clashes
• The Israel Defense Forces carried out airstrikes on Syrian government tanks near Suwaida, saying the action aimed to protect the Druze community
• Suwaida’s governor and senior Druze clerics have urged calm and called on the central government to take decisive steps to end the violence