Druze Leader Urges Corridors to Kurdish-Held Northeast and Jordan as Suwayda Declared "Disaster Area"
In the wake of three days of fierce fighting that left hundreds dead and devastated large sections of this majority-Druze province, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, one of the community’s highest spiritual authorities, declared Suwayda a “disaster area” on Thursday and appealed for the immediate opening of safe corridors toward two destinations: the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) under Kurdish leadership, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
According to Syria TV, speaking from Suwayda, al-Hijri called the past 72 hours “agonizing moments” in which “unarmed civilians were butchered in cold blood.” The elder announced public mourning across the province and said Suwayda had been “purified of the filth of terrorists,” a reference to armed formations loyal to the Syrian Transitional Government that attempted to seize the city earlier in the week. He urged Druze residents to close ranks, comfort bereaved families, limit non-essential visits, and grant medical teams freedom of movement while they “stitch the wounds” of the battered region.
Al-Hijri’s plea comes on the heels of an abrupt cease-fire reached late Wednesday after Israel carried out a wave of air-strikes on Transitional Government positions in Suwayda, neighboring Daraa, and even the heart of Damascus. Although Damascus portrayed the truce as a negotiated settlement, local Druze leaders categorically denied any agreement and insisted the government had been forced into retreat. By dawn Thursday, security and army units loyal to the Transitional Government had evacuated the province, leaving native defense militias in complete control of both the city and the surrounding countryside.
The pro-Kurdish Hawar News Agency (ANHA) reports that inside Suwayda, the rapid withdrawal triggered an exodus of Bedouin families who feared reprisals. At the same time, local social-media pages reported forced displacement of some tribal households from villages recaptured by Druze forces. The humanitarian toll is staggering: the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death count at 374, the majority believed to be civilians.
The pro-Kurdish outlet hailed the outcome as a resounding defeat for the Transitional Government and a vindication of Suwayda’s long-standing policy of self-administration. Hawar News Agency described the battle as a “senseless war” born of sectarian incitement and an over-confidence in presumed regional backing for Damascus. According to ANHA, government-aligned fighters committed executions, looted homes, and torched property while broadcasting extremist slogans against the Druze faith.
In his Thursday statement, al-Hijri appealed directly to King Abdullah II of Jordan “to order the opening of a border crossing between Suwayda and Jordan for its vital humanitarian importance at this critical hour.” He simultaneously called for roads to be unblocked toward “our Kurdish brothers,” a move that, if realized, would link the isolated southern province to AANES territory more than 300 kilometers away and bypass front lines controlled by various armed actors.
The corridor request echoes an earlier, extraordinary set of appeals in which the sheikh publicly reached out to former U.S. president Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and other Arab leaders, seeking protection for Suwayda as the assault intensified. Allied Israeli intervention ultimately shaped the battlefield: the Israel Defense Forces claimed to have struck more than 27 targets, including command centers and supply convoys headed for Suwayda.
While the guns have fallen silent for now, Suwayda’s leadership warns that immediate relief aid, medical supplies, and international observers are essential to document massacres, prevent revenge attacks, and rebuild shattered infrastructure. For the Druze community, the episode underscores a hardening conviction that their survival lies in bolstering autonomous ties—whether with Kurdish-run northeast Syria or with Jordan—rather than relying on protection from a state they believe has once again turned its weapons on its citizens.
Photo: Syria Tv