[News] Thirty Druze factions merge to defend Suwayda following July massacres

[Anti-Imperialist News]

  Thirty Druze factions merge to defend Suwayda following July massacres

Syrian authorities have excluded Suwayda and the Kurdish-controlled 
north east from participating in elections for a transitional parliament

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

AUG 24, 2025 - 
https://thecradle.co/articles/thirty-druze-factions-merge-to-defend-suwayda-following-july-massacres

(Photo credit: Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images)

Local armed factions in the Druze-majority governorate of Suwayda in 
southern Syria announced on 24 August the formation of the "National 
Guard" under the leadership of Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat 
al-Hijri.

The new military formation brings together 30 local factions to better 
protect Suwayda following the killing of Druze fighters and civilians by 
forces loyal to interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in July.

The announcement of the National Guard was made through a recorded 
statement published 
<https://www.facebook.com/61578949776096/videos/%D8%A8%D8%B3%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%91%D9%8E%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%91%D9%8E%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%91%D9%8E%D8%AD%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9%D9%8B-%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%AD%D9%85-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AD-%D8%B4%D9%87%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%A1%D9%86%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B0%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%82%D8%B6%D9%88%D8%A7-%D9%81%D9%8A/1208769947594770/?rdid=IB3ARS1FAAjLKixc>on 
the guard's official Facebook page.

The statement expressed "our condolences to the souls of our righteous 
martyrs who died in battles of honor and dignity," to defend the Druze 
"against abhorrent Salafist gangs who practiced murder and terrorism in 
the name of an alleged state that made no distinction between human and 
stone."

According 
<https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/08/syria-un-experts-alarmed-attacks-druze-communities-including-sexual-violence>to 
the UN, Sharaa's forces killed at least 1,000 Druze fighters and 
civilians, including 196 people who were extrajudicially executed during 
a week-long invasion of Suwayda beginning on 13 July.

The UN also highlighted the abduction of at least 105 Druze women and 
girls by armed groups affiliated with the Syrian authorities, of whom 80 
are still missing.

The National Guard statement expressed loyalty to the Druze religious 
leadership, represented by Hijri, whom they describe as the legitimate 
representative of the Druze community in Suwayda.

The statement added that the National Guard constitutes the Druze 
community's official military body.

Factions announcing their participation include the Saif al-Haqq Forces, 
Al-Fahd Forces, Al-Uliya Forces, and others.

The formation of the National Guard also received support from the Men 
of Dignity movement, which welcomed 
<https://x.com/suwayda24/status/1959361858697363467>the establishment of 
an "organized military body" to defend the Druze community against 
covetous invaders."

The Syrian government's massacre of Druze in Suwayda has led many of the 
religious minority to endorse separating from the Syrian state to 
instead become an autonomous region under international protection.

At recent demonstrations in Suwayda, which remains besieged by Sharaa's 
forces, some Druze held Israeli flags. Some in Suwayda wish to live 
under Israeli protection, in part due to the influence of Druze 
relatives who are citizens of Israel.

Israel has sought to exploit the horrific attacks against Druze in July 
in an effort to intervene 
<https://thecradle.co/articles/how-the-us-and-israel-partnered-with-syrias-new-president-to-massacre-the-druze>further 
in southern Syria.

Israel is seeking to establish the so-called David's Corridor to link 
the land it occupies in the Golan Heights with territory in northeast 
Syria controlled by US-backed Kurdish forces known as the Syrian 
Democratic Forces (SDF).

The massacre of Druze and, before that, the targeted killings of over 
1,600 Alawite civilians in March, have made Syrian Kurds reluctant to 
give up their weapons and relinquish control of the autonomous region 
and its oil wealth.

In a further sign that Syria is splintering, Syria's Supreme Election 
Committee announced on Saturday that the Druze and Kurdish-controlled 
regions of the country would not be allowed to participate in the 
process of electing members of Syria's transitional parliament.

Citing "security concerns," the election committee said the process to 
choose a new 210-seat parliament would be postponed in Suwayda, Raqqa, 
and Hasaka Governorates.

President Sharaa, the former Islamic State in Iraq commander, will 
choose 70 of the parliament's new members, while local electoral 
councils formed by his government will choose the remaining 140.

On Sunday, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) 
criticized 
<https://www.newarab.com/news/syria-kurds-say-lawmaker-selection-process-undemocratic>the 
exclusion of Kurdish-controlled governorates.

"These elections are neither democratic nor express the will of Syrians 
in any way," a statement issued by AANES said.

It added that "defining our regions as unsafe" was carried out "to 
justify the policy of denial for more than five million Syrians" in the 
area.

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