In an extraordinary move that could reshape Syria’s post-war map, Suwayda’s Supreme Legal Committee late Wednesday declared “full administrative and security autonomy” for the Druze-majority province, appointing its internal-security chief and a temporary executive council. The announcement, delivered from the provincial courthouse and broadcast by local outlets, signals the first formal rupture between Suwayda and Damascus since nationwide unrest began in 2011.
Local officials say police stations, courthouses, and border checkpoints switched to the new administration’s control overnight, with committee members swearing in retired judge Bassam Abu Fares as interim governor. Unconfirmed new reports reaching the Levant Files indicate Druze community militias—many of them veterans of fights against ISIS and rebel factions—posted outside government buildings instead of Syrian police. The committee framed the handover as “a protective measure” after weeks of violent clashes and what it called “state failure to safeguard citizens.”
The recent weeks have been punctuated by fresh gunfire in outlying villages and convoy movements on the Damascus–Suwayda highway. Independent monitors confirmed new fatalities in nearby Jaramana when Druze fighters traded fire with Bedouin gunmen. At the same time, at least two Syrian Army columns were seen heading north toward Izraa’—a sign, analysts say, that Damascus is consolidating forces outside the newly autonomous zone.
After the fresh clashes, a Syrian Defense Ministry communiqué acknowledged a “tactical redeployment” of troops from Suwayda “to prevent friction,” echoing earlier statements that the army would leave local security “to community committees” after deadly street battles last month.
The Background
An esoteric Arabic-speaking community that broke from Ismaili Shiism in the 11th century, the Druze number roughly 700,000 in Syria and have traditionally sought limited self-rule while pledging conditional loyalty to the state.
Perched on volcanic highlands 100 km south of Damascus, Suwayda (pop. ~400,000) remained comparatively calm through much of the civil war, protected by local militias and geographic isolation.
Violence flared in July 2025 when Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes clashed, leaving hundreds dead; Syria’s transitional government sent troops, but a cease-fire collapsed within days.
Israel, whose own 140,000-strong Druze minority wields political influence, has intermittently struck Syrian and Iranian positions in the south. Analysts say Jerusalem views an autonomous, Iran-free Druze corridor as a strategic buffer along the Golan Heights.