Overview

• On August 1, about 200 residents in Suwaida’s main square rallied for the withdrawal of Syrian transitional government troops and the opening of humanitarian corridors to Jordan.
• The United Nations reports that over 175,000 people have been displaced from Suwaida governorate where severe shortages of food, water and medicine persist.
• Militias allied with the Syrian Transitional Government are accused of enforcing a de facto blockade of the Damascus–Suwaida highway, a charge Damascus denies.
• In Berlin, roughly 300 Islamist-leaning demonstrators used scissors gestures and chanted “We will bend the Druze,” prompting a police investigation into hate-driven extremism.
• Although a US-brokered ceasefire halted mid-July fighting that left more than 1,400 dead, sectarian mistrust and outside interventions continue to threaten regional stability.