Bedouin fighters positioned outside the southern Syrian city of Suweida have told the BBC they will observe a ceasefire with the Druze community there, but have not ruled out resuming hostilities.

The Bedouin fighters have retreated from the city to surrounding villages in the province after a week of deadly sectarian clashes between Druze fighters, Bedouins and government forces, with Israel carrying out air strikes in support of the Druze.

On Sunday a UK-based monitoring group said there was a “cautious calm” in the region – but later said tribal fighters had attacked villages.

From the town of al-Mazara’a – a Druze town until last week when it was taken over by the Bedouin and now under Syrian government control – smoke could be seen across the fields rising from Suweida city.

At a nearby checkpoint a mound of dirt cut across the road. Dozens of government security personnel were standing along it, all heavily armed and blocking the Bedouin from re-entering the city.

Hundreds of Bedouin fighters, many firing guns into the air, crowded the road.

They want the release of injured Bedouin people still in the city of Suweida, who they refer to as hostages. Otherwise, they say, they will force their way past the checkpoint and head back into the city.

“We did what the government have ordered us and we are committed to the agreement, and the government words and we came back, Suweida is 35km far from here,” a tribal elder told the BBC.

“Currently our hostages and wounded are there, they are refusing to give us anyone… If they don’t commit to the agreement we are going to enter again, even if Suweida will become our cemetery.”

Long-running tensions between Druze and Bedouin tribes erupted into deadly sectarian clashes a week ago, after the abduction of a Druze merchant on the road to the capital Damascus.

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government responded by deploying forces to the city. Druze residents of Suweida told the BBC they had witnessed “barbaric acts” as gunmen – government forces and foreign fighters – attacked people. Israel targeted these forces, saying they were acting to protect the Druze.

Government forces withdrew and Druze and Bedouin fighters subsequently clashed. Both Druze and Bedouin fighters have been accused of atrocities over the past seven days, as well as members of the security forces and individuals affiliated with the interim government.

On Saturday, al-Sharaa announced a ceasefire and sent security forces to Suweida to end the fighting.

Local Druze fighters are once again in control of the city. But more than 1,120 people have been killed, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

The dead included 427 Druze fighters and 298 Druze civilians, 194 of whom were “summarily executed by defence and interior ministry personnel”, the monitor said.

Meanwhile 354 government security personnel and 21 Sunni Bedouin were also killed, three of them civilians who it said were “summarily executed by Druze fighters”. Another 15 government troops were killed in Israeli strikes, it said.

At least 128,000 people have been displaced by the violence, the UN migration agency said on Sunday. Suweida city has a severe medical supply shortage, the SOHR said.

A first humanitarian convoy from the Syrian Red Crescent has reportedly reached the city. Israel’s public broadcaster reported that Israel had sent medical aid to the Druze.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meanwhile has demanded that the government “hold accountable and bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks” to preserve the possibility of a united and peaceful Syria.

In Mia’rbah, south-west of Suweida, Bedouin refugees gathered at what used to be a school. The village still bore the scars from years of civil war, with buildings lying in ruins and strewn with bullet holes.

At the aid distribution centres elderly Bedouin women collected water from a tank on the back of the truck. Most of the people there were women and children.

Asked whether she thought Bedouin and Druze could live together, one woman displaced from Suweida city said it would depend on the government in Damascus.

“They can live together if the government will take over and rule, and if the government will provide peace and security,” she said.

In the absence of government authority, she said she believed that Bedouin could not trust the Druze.

“They are traitors, without peace and security we can’t live with them,” she said.

Additional reporting by Jack Burgess

Over the last five days, Rima says she has witnessed “barbaric” scenes.

The 45-year-old Druze woman has lived in the southern Syrian city of Suweida her whole life, and never thought her once-peaceful hometown would become the scene of a bloodbath.

“There were bodies everywhere outside our building,” she told the BBC in a phone interview, using a pseudonym out of fear for her safety.

Rima said she huddled inside her home, bracing for the unimaginable, as gunmen – government forces and foreign fighters – moved through her neighbourhood earlier this week, going door-to-door looking for their next victim.

“One of the worst feelings ever is to keep waiting for people to come into your house and decide whether we should live or die,” she recalled, her voice still trembling with fear.

The violence has left Rima and her neighbours feeling abandoned and afraid in their own homes, as bullets and shells sounded off outside.

Long-running tensions between Druze and Bedouin tribes in Suweida erupted into deadly sectarian clashes on Sunday, following the abduction of a Druze merchant on the highway to the capital, Damascus.

As the fighting spread to other parts of the southern province, the government of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa – who led the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime by Islamist-led rebels in December – announced that it would deploy the interior and defence ministry’s forces to “restore stability”.

Since the fall of Assad, some local Druze leaders have rejected the presence of the security forces in Suweida city. When government forces were deployed on Tuesday, the fighting escalated.

Soon, the government’s forces were being accused of attacking both Druze fighters and civilians, which prompted the Israeli military to intervene with a series of air strikes that it said were intended to protect the Druze.

As Rima watched this play out, the lack of internet and power made it difficult to keep up with the unfolding events. All she knew for sure was what she could see from her window: slaughtered bodies and burned buildings.

Syrian state media have also cited authorities and Bedouin tribes as saying that “outlaw groups” carried out “massacres” and other crimes against Bedouin fighters and civilians.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, has said it has documented the killing of at least 594 people since Sunday, including 154 Druze civilians, of whom 83 were summarily killed by government forces, and three members of Bedouin tribes who were summarily killed by Druze fighters.

Nayef, a Druze man whose name we have also changed, was also confronted with horrific scenes in Suweida.

“We are collecting bodies from the streets. We found bodies left outside houses, next to houses for two or three days,” he told the BBC in a phone interview.

Despite being a government employee, Nayef lashed out in disbelief at what he saw as the government forces’ brutality inside the city.

“They stormed neighbourhoods, selecting the houses that look wealthy. They looted these houses and then torched them. They sprayed unarmed civilians with bullets.”

Videos circulating on social media appeared to support Nayef’s allegations.

Footage shared on Facebook on Wednesday afternoon shows at least half-a-dozen men dressed in camouflage firing live rounds at a group of residents, who are kneeling on the sidewalk.

The UN human rights office said it had documented the killing of at least 13 people on Tuesday by armed men affiliated with the government who deliberately opened fire at a family gathering. On the same day, they reportedly summarily executed six men near their homes.

While bullets and shells rained down, Suweida residents were left wondering when help was coming.

But it never came.

Rima said she watched as security forces and foreign fighters entered her neighbourhood and later shot her neighbour in front of his mother.

“Is this the army and security forces who were supposed to come and protect us?” she asked. “People’s livelihoods were stolen. Those who were killed were young and unarmed.”

Other testimony we heard backed up Rima’s claim. Those we spoke to said most of the fighters who entered Suweida and attacked civilians appeared to be Islamists.

One woman heard the fighters shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) in her building, calling the Druze “infidels” and “pigs”, and saying they were there to kill them.

Some of these fighters posted videos of themselves online humiliating men in Suweida, including cutting or shaving off the moustaches of Druze sheikhs. The moustaches are a symbol of Druze religious identity.

The BBC has approached the Syrian government for official comments on the issue but not so far received a response.

In a televised address early on Thursday, Sharaa vowed to hold the perpetrators accountable and promised to make protecting the Druze a “priority”.

“We are eager to hold accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people because they are under the protection and responsibility of the state,” he said.

He went on to blame “outlaw groups”, saying their leaders “rejected dialogue for many months”.

For many, the promise of protection felt like déjà vu.

It resembled the message the president delivered when government forces and allied Islamist fighters carried out deadly reprisals against civilians from another religious minority, the Alawites, in response to attacks by Assad loyalists in the coastal region in March.

A committee was established to investigate those violations – but is yet to deliver any findings.

The accounts from Nayef and others bore many similarities to what happened on the coast in March.

“There’s a total lack of trust with the government,” Nayef said. “They are just doing a lip-service. They say nice things about freedoms, documenting violations and accountability, but they are all lies.”

Many Suweida residents say this latest episode of sectarian violence will have long-lasting effects.

“If it was not for Israel’s bombardment, we wouldn’t be able to talk to you today,” one woman told the BBC.

However, some were also critical of Israel’s airstrikes and its claim that it was acting to protect the Druze.

Nayef said: “Nobody wants Israel. We are patriotic people. We were at the forefront of people to adopt patriotism. Our loyalty and patriotism should not be doubted.”

Additional reporting by Samantha Granville in Beirut

A fresh wave of deadly sectarian violence has rocked Syria, putting into focus the country’s fragile security landscape as the new government attempts to impose its authority over the fractured territory.

On Sunday 13 July, the reported abduction of a merchant from the Druze minority sparked days of deadly clashes between Druze militias and Sunni Bedouin fighters in southern Syria.

Later on Tuesday 15 July, Israel intervened militarily, saying its forces were seeking to protect the Druze and to eliminate pro-government forces accused of attacking them in Suweida. At least 300 people are reported to have been killed in Suweida since Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The violence is the first in the Druze-majority province of Suweida since fighting in April and May between Druze fighters and Syria’s new security forces killed dozens of people. Prior to this, clashes in Syria’s coastal provinces in March were said to have killed hundreds of members of the Alawite minority, to which former ruler Bashar al-Assad belongs.

The deadly unrest, along with the violent Israeli strikes, have re-ignited fears of a security breakdown in Syria, as the country grapples with the fallout from over a decade of civil war, and the recent Islamist-led rebel takeover of Damascus in December 2024. Syria’s current leader, former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa, has vowed to protect Syria’s minorities.

The Druze are an Arabic-speaking ethno-religious minority in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and the occupied Golan Heights. The Druze faith is an offshoot of Shia Islam with its own unique identity and beliefs.

Half of its roughly one million followers live in Syria, where they make up about 3% of the population. The Druze community in Israel is largely considered to be loyal to the Israeli state, owing to its members’ participation in military service. There are some 152,000 Druze people living in Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, according to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics.

They have historically occupied a precarious position in Syria’s political order. During Syria’s almost 14-year civil war, the Druze operated their own militias in southern Syria.

Since the fall of Assad in December, the Druze have resisted state attempts to impose authority over southern Syria. While the Druze factions in Syria are divided in their approach to the new authorities, ranging from caution to outright rejection, many object to official Syrian security presence in Suweida and have resisted integration into the Syrian army – relying instead on local militias.

Despite the Syrian government condemning the recent attacks on Druze people and vowing to restore order in southern Syria, its forces have also been accused of attacking the minority – with the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor documenting “summary executions” of Druze people by government forces. Such reports have fuelled mistrust among some members of the Druze community towards the authorities in Damascus.

After Assad’s sudden fall, Israel has been reaching out to the Druze community near its northern border in a bid to forge alliances with Syria’s minorities. It has increasingly positioned itself as a regional protector of minorities, including the Kurds, Druze and Alawites in Syria, while attacking military sites in Syria and government forces.

During the sectarian clashes in May, Israel carried out strikes near the presidential palace in Damascus, saying it was a warning against attacks on the Druze. However, some Druze figures in Syria and Lebanon have accused Israel of stoking sectarian divisions to advance its own expansionist aspirations in the region.

The most recent strikes have primarily acted as a warning and a deterrent against the Syrian army deploying to southern Syria, with Israel seeking to create a demilitarised zone in the area. In particular, Israel fears the presence of Islamist fighters near its northern border, along the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

While the Israeli air strikes on 15 July were limited to targeting security forces and vehicles in Suweida, the Israeli military expanded the scope of its attacks on 16 July, striking the Ministry of Defence and the Syrian army headquarters in Damascus. Syria has condemned the attacks.

The strikes represented the most serious Israeli escalation in Syria since December 2024, when it obliterated hundreds of military sites across the country and seized a UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Syrian Golan Heights. Israel has struck Syria multiple times, with the intention of preventing the new authorities from building its military capacities – viewed as a potential threat to Israeli security.

“The warnings in Damascus have ended – now painful blows will come,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on social media on 16 July, shortly after Israeli strikes on Damascus began.

The targeting of the Syrian military headquarters was broadcast live by the leading Syria TV channel, from its studios located across from the building – with the presenter captured on air fleeing the studio.

The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the US was “very concerned” about the violence and announced on 16 July: “We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight.”

Several Arab states, including Lebanon, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, and Kuwait, have condemned the Israeli strikes targeting Syrian government and security forces. Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry denounced what it described as “Israel’s blatant attacks” on Syria, while Iran described the attacks as “all too predictable”.

Turkey, a key stakeholder in post-Assad Syria, described the strikes as “an act of sabotage against Syria’s efforts to secure peace, stability and security”.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned Israel’s “escalatory” strikes in Suweida and Damascus.

The violence has underlined the fragility of Syria’s post-war security and political landscape, with the most recent spate of violence fuelling fears of renewed sectarian attacks across Syria.

As Sharaa attempts to establish control over Syria and to unite its various groups, it remains to be seen whether his Islamist-dominated government will be able to reconcile Syria’s deep-rooted sectarian divisions, stoked by years of civil war. The sectarian clashes, along with the Israeli strikes, threaten to derail attempts at state-building and post-war recovery.

Israel, for its part, is likely to continue to perceive the new authorities, and its affiliated Islamist fighters in the south, as a significant security threat – pushing it to pursue alliances with groups that may feel alienated by the new authorities.

A fresh wave of deadly sectarian violence is rocking southern Syria, highlighting the country’s fragility as the new government attempts to impose its authority.

The fighting in the province of Suweida is between Druze and Bedouin militias – two groups with long-running disputes – as well as government forces.

The latest violence started on Sunday 13 July with the reported abduction of a Druze merchant. A few days later, Israel launched air strikes on Damascus, Suweida and Deraa, saying its forces were seeking to protect the Druze against government-affiliated forces.

One week on, more than 1,100 people are reported to have been killed in Suweida, according to the UK-based war monitor, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

All sides – Druze, Bedouin and government forces – have been accused of atrocities.

The violence, along with the Israeli strikes, has re-ignited fears of a security breakdown, as Syria grapples with the fallout from a 13-year civil war, and the recent Islamist-led rebel takeover of Damascus.

Syria’s current leader, the former militant Ahmed al-Sharaa, has vowed to protect minorities, but that has been met by scepticism by critics, including Israel.

Several bouts of sectarian violence, including the killing of hundreds of members of the Alawite minority in March, have fuelled concerns over the status of minorities in Syria after the fall of the Assad regime.

The Druze are an Arabic-speaking ethno-religious minority in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The Druze faith is an offshoot of Shia Islam with its own unique identity and beliefs.

Half of its roughly one million followers live in Syria, where they make up about 3% of the population. Druze in Israel are largely considered to be loyal to the state, owing to their participation in military service. There are some 152,000 Druze living in Israel and the occupied Golan Heights, according to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics.

They have historically held a precarious position in Syria’s political order. Under Assad’s rule, the Druze in southern Syria enjoyed limited autonomy, while maintaining ties with Damascus – a system under threat under the new government.

Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December, the Druze have resisted government attempts to impose authority over southern Syria. While Druze factions in Syria are divided in their approach to the new authorities, ranging from caution to outright rejection, many object to a state security presence in Suweida and have resisted integration into the Syrian army – relying instead on local militias.

The Syrian government has condemned the attacks on Druze people and promised to restore order. However, its forces are also accused of attacking the minority; the SOHR has documented “summary executions” by government forces.

Historically, Israel has courted ethnic and religious minorities in the Middle East in a bid to forge strategic alliances in the face of its regional rivals. Since Assad’s fall, it has increasingly positioned itself as a regional protector of minorities, including the Kurds, Druze and Alawites in Syria, while attacking military sites across the country and government forces.

However, some Druze in Syria and Lebanon have accused Israel of stoking sectarian divisions to advance its own expansionist aspirations.

Israel has struck Syria multiple times, with the intention of preventing the new authorities from building military capacities that could threaten Israeli security.

The most recent attacks have primarily acted as a warning against the Syrian army deploying to the south, with Israel seeking to create a demilitarised zone in the area.

In particular, Israel fears the presence of Islamist fighters near its northern border, along the occupied Golan Heights.

While the air strikes on 15 July were limited to targeting security forces and vehicles in Suweida, the scope was widened the next day, when Israel hit the Ministry of Defence and the Syrian army headquarters in Damascus.

“The warnings in Damascus have ended – now painful blows will come,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on social media shortly after the strikes began.

The blast at the military headquarters was broadcast live by Syria’s leading TV channel, which has its studios nearby. Footage showed the news presenter fleeing the studio mid-programme.

The attacks represented the most serious Israeli escalation in Syria since December 2024, when it obliterated hundreds of military sites and seized a UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Syrian Golan Heights, which the UN said was a violation of a 1974 agreement that there would be no military presence in the area.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the US was “very concerned” about the violence and announced on 16 July: “We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight.”

Arab states, including Lebanon, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, and Kuwait, have condemned the Israeli strikes. Saudi Arabia denounced what it described as “Israel’s blatant attacks”, while Iran said they were “all too predictable”.

Turkey, a key stakeholder in post-Assad Syria, described the strikes as “an act of sabotage” against Syria’s government.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned Israel’s “escalatory” strikes.

The clashes have underlined the fragility of Syria’s post-war security and politics, and the most recent violence has fuelled fears of renewed sectarian attacks.

It remains to be seen whether Ahmed al-Sharaa, the interim president will be able to reconcile Syria’s deep sectarian divisions, stoked by years of civil war.

The sectarian clashes, along with the Israeli strikes, threaten to derail attempts at state-building and post-war recovery.

Israel is likely to continue to perceive the new authorities, and its affiliated Islamist fighters in the south, as a significant security threat – pushing it to pursue alliances with groups that may feel increasingly isolated and alienated by Damascus.

The Israeli military struck the Syrian defence ministry and government forces in southern Syria, as deadly sectarian fighting in the predominantly Druze province of Suweida continued for a fourth day.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said its forces were “working to save our Druze brothers and to eliminate the regime’s gangs”. The Syrian foreign ministry condemned Israel’s “treacherous aggression”.

The Syrian interior ministry and one Druze leader said a ceasefire had been agreed on Wednesday night. But another Druze leader rejected it.

More than 300 people are reported to have been killed in Suweida since Sunday, when clashes between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes erupted.

The Israeli military began striking Syrian security forces and their weapons on Monday, after they were deployed to the city of Suweida for the first time since Sunni Islamist-led rebels overthrew President Bashar al-Assad in December.

Minority groups including the Druze – whose religion is an offshoot of Shia Islam with its own unique identity and beliefs – are suspicious of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and his government despite his pledges to protect them.

Their fears have been heightened by several outbreaks of deadly sectarian violence over the past eight months, including one in May in which dozens of people were reportedly killed in clashes between Druze, security forces and allied Islamist fighters in Damascus and Suweida.

In the wake of that fighting, the government reached an agreement with Druze militias to hire local security forces in Suweida province from their ranks.

Netanyahu has said he is committed to preventing harm to the Druze in Syria because of their deep ties to those living in Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X on Wednesday afternoon that “the warnings in Damascus” had ended and that the Israeli military would “continue to operate vigorously in Suweida to destroy the forces that attacked the Druze until they withdraw completely”.

He later posted that “the painful blows have begun” above a video clip showing a TV presenter being forced to dive under a desk live on air as an Israeli missile hit the nearby entrance to the Syrian defence ministry in Umayyad Square, in central Damascus.

The Israeli military said it struck the Syrian government’s military headquarters in the capital as well as a “military target in the area” of the presidential palace.

It also said strikes hit armoured vehicles loaded with heavy machine guns and weapons on their way to Suweida, as well as firing posts and weapons storage facilities in southern Syria.

Syria’s foreign ministry said the strikes targeted government institutions and civilian facilities in Damascus and Suweida and killed “several innocent civilians”.

“This flagrant assault, which forms part of a deliberate policy pursued by the Israeli entity to inflame tensions, spread chaos and undermine security and stability in Syria, constitutes a blatant violation of the United Nations Charter and international humanitarian law,” it added.

The Syrian interior ministry announced on Wednesday evening that it had reached a ceasefire agreement with Druze leaders “as part of efforts to restore security and stability”. It said military operations would end immediately, police would set up checkpoints in Suweida city, and that the province would be “fully integrated” into the Syrian state.

One Druze leader, Sheikh Yousef Jarbou, confirmed the agreement. But another who supports Israel’s intervention, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri, called for Druze fighters to continue fighting until the “total liberation of our province from gangs”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was “very worried” about the violence in the south, and that he was talking to Israel and Syria to calm the situation.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, meanwhile reported that the humanitarian situation in Suweida city had rapidly deteriorated.

It cited sources as saying there were clashes in several area of the city and that tanks had attacked the national hospital, causing panic among the scores of casualties from the fighting being treated there. They also said there were acute shortages of water and medical supplies.

The SOHR says more than 300 people have been killed since Sunday in Suweida province.

They include 69 Druze fighters and 40 civilians, 27 of whom were summarily killed by interior ministry and defence ministry forces, according to the group. At least 165 members of the government forces and 18 Bedouin tribal fighters have also been killed in the clashes, while 10 members of government forces have been killed in Israeli strikes, it says.

The BBC is not able to verify the SOHR’s casualty figures.

The fighting between Bedouin tribes and Druze militias in Suweida is said to have been sparked by the abduction of a Druze merchant on the highway to Damascus last Friday.

On Sunday, armed Druze fighters reportedly encircled and later seized a neighbourhood of Suweida city that is inhabited by Bedouin. The clashes soon spread into other parts of Suweida province, with tribesmen reportedly launching attacks on nearby Druze towns and villages.

Syria’s interior ministry later announced that its forces and those of the defence ministry would intervene and impose order, saying the “dangerous escalation comes in light of the absence of relevant official institutions”.

There was a brief period of calm on Sunday night before the fighting resumed, with local activists reporting that Druze villages west of the city had been attacked with drones and mortars as government forces deployed nearby.

That afternoon, the Israeli military said it had stuck several Syrian government tanks in Suweida, saying it aimed to prevent forces advancing towards Suweida city.

On Tuesday morning, Druze spiritual leaders said they had agreed to allow government forces to enter Suweida province in order to end the bloodshed. But Sheikh Hajri urged Druze to resist, accusing the government of violating a ceasefire by bombarding Suweida city.

The fighting continued as government forces entered the city. The defence minister declared a ceasefire and said they would only open fire if attacked, but witnesses reported that they joined the Bedouin fighters in attacking Druze fighters and civilians.

That afternoon, Netanyahu and Katz ordered the Israeli military to once again attack government forces and weaponry in Suweida. They said they were working to prevent them from harming the Druze and to “ensure the demilitarisation” of areas near Israel’s border.

Earlier this year, Israel’s prime minister demanded the complete demilitarisation of Suweida and two other southern provinces. He said Israel saw President Sharaa’s Sunni Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as a threat. HTS is a former al-Qaeda affiliate that is still designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN and UK, but no longer by the US.

The Israeli military has already carried out hundreds of strikes across Syria to destroy the country’s military assets since the fall of the Assad regime.

And it has sent troops into the UN-monitored demilitarised buffer zone between the occupied Golan Heights and Syria, as well as several adjoining areas and the summit of Mount Hermon.

When the gunfire started outside her home in the Damascus suburb of Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, Lama al-Hassanieh grabbed her phone and locked herself in her bathroom.

For hours, she cowered in fear as fighters dressed in military-style uniforms and desert camouflage roamed the streets of the neighbourhood. A heavy machine gun was mounted on a military vehicle just beneath her balcony window.

“Jihad against Druze” and “we are going to kill you, Druze,” the men were shouting.

She did not know who the men were – extremists, government security forces, or someone else entirely – but the message was clear: as a Druze, she was not safe.

The Druze – a community with its own unique practices and beliefs, whose faith began as an off-shoot of Shia Islam – have historically occupied a precarious position in Syria’s political order.

Under former President Bashar al-Assad, many Druze maintained a quiet loyalty to the state, hoping that alignment with it would protect them from the sectarian bloodshed that consumed other parts of Syria during the 13-year-long civil war.

Many Druze took to the streets during the uprising, especially in the latter years. But, seeking to portray himself as defending Syria’s minorities against Islamist extremism, Assad avoided using the kind of iron first against Druze protesters which he did in other cities that revolted against his rule.

They operated their own militia which defended their areas against attacks by Sunni Muslim extremist groups who considered Druze heretics, while they were left alone by pro-Assad forces.

But with Assad toppled by Sunni Islamist-led rebels who have formed the interim government, that unspoken pact has frayed, and Druze are now worried about being isolated and targeted in post-war Syria.

Recent attacks on Druze communities by Islamist militias loosely affiliated with the government in Damascus have fuelled growing distrust towards the state.

It started in late April with a leaked audio recording that allegedly featured a Druze religious leader insulting the Prophet Muhammad. Although the leader denied it was his voice, and Syria’s interior ministry later confirmed the recording was fake, the damage had been done.

A video of a student at the University of Homs, in central Syria, went viral, with him calling on Muslims to take revenge immediately against Druze, sparking sectarian violence in communities across the country.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said at least 137 people – 17 civilians, 89 Druze fighters and 32 members of the security forces – were killed in several days of fighting in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, the southern Damascus suburb of Jaramana, and in an ambush on the Suweida-Damascus highway.

The Syrian government said the security forces’ operation in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya was carried out to restore security and stability, and that it was in response to attacks on its own personnel where 16 of them were killed.

Lama Zahereddine, a pharmacy student at Damascus University, was just weeks away from completing her degree when the violence reached her village. What began as distant shelling turned into a direct assault – gunfire, mortars, and chaos tearing through her neighbourhood.

Her uncle arrived in a small bus, urging the women and children to flee under fire while the men stayed behind with nothing more than light arms. “The attackers had heavy machine guns and mortars,” Lama recalled. “Our men had nothing to match that.”

The violence did not stop at her village. At Lama’s university, dorm rooms were stormed and students were beaten with chains.

In one case, a student was stabbed after simply being asked if he was Druze.

“They [the instigators] told us we left our universities by choice,” she said. “But how could I stay? I was five classes and one graduation project away from my degree. Why would I abandon that if it wasn’t serious?”

Like many Druze, Lama’s fear is not just of physical attacks – it is of what she sees as a state that has failed to offer protection.

“The government says these were unaffiliated outlaws. Fine. But when are they going to be held accountable?” she asked.

Her trust was further shaken by classmates who mocked her plight, including one who replied with a laughing emoji to her post about fleeing her village.

“You never know how people really see you,” she said quietly. “I don’t know who to trust anymore.”

While no-one is sure who the attackers pledged their allegiance to, one thing is clear: many Druze are worried that Syria is drifting toward an intolerant Sunni-dominated order with little space for religious minorities like themselves.

“We don’t feel safe with these people,” Hadi Abou Hassoun told the BBC.

He was one of the Druze men from Suweida called in to protect Ashrafiyat Sahnaya on the day Lama was hiding in her bathroom.

His convoy was ambushed by armed groups using mortars and drones. Hadi was shot in the back, piercing his lung and breaking several ribs.

It’s a far cry from the inclusive Syria he had in mind under new leadership.

“Their ideology is religious, not based on law or the state. And when someone acts out of religious or sectarian hate, they don’t represent us,” Hadi said.

“What represents us is the law and the state. The law is what protects everyone…I want protection from the law.”

The Syrian government has repeatedly stressed the sovereignty and unity of all Syrian territories and denominations of Syrian society, including the Druze.

Though clashes and attacks have since subsided, faith in the government’s ability to protect minorities has diminished.

During the days of the fighting, Israel carried out air strikes around the Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, claiming it was targeting “operatives” attacking Druze to protect the minority group.

It also struck an area near the Syrian presidential palace, saying that it would “not allow the deployment of forces south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community”. Israel itself has a large number of Druze citizens in the country and living in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

Back in Ashrafiyat Sahnaya, Lama al-Hassanieh said the atmosphere had shifted – it was “calmer, but cautious”.

She sees neighbours again, but wariness lingers.

“Trust has been broken. There are people in the town now who don’t belong, who came during the war. It’s hard to know who’s who anymore.”

Trust in the government remains thin.

“They say they’re working toward protecting all Syrians. But where are the real steps? Where is the justice?” Lama asked.

“I don’t want to be called a minority. We are Syrians. All we ask for is the same rights – and for those who attacked us to be held accountable.”

Additional reporting by Samantha Granville