Syrian authorities ease roadblocks near Sweida ahead of possible reopening of Damascus road

The Syrian government has scaled back roadblocks near Sweida in preparation for the reopening of a route from the area to Damascus, sources told The National on Thursday.

The move came as the US piled pressure on the authorities who replaced Bashar Al Assad last year to improve the conditions of the Druze, and in the shadow of Israeli threats.

Hundreds of Druze civilians were killed last month when regular forces and militias loyal to President Ahmad Al Shara tried to take control of the provincial capital, Sweida city, by force, but were repelled by the Israeli air force.

The government said it intervened to restore order after violence erupted between Druze inhabitants and a small community of Sunnis of Bedouin origin in the city.

Syrian security forces began in the last 24 hours to remove roadblocks on the Sweida motorway, an umbilical cord for the Sweida economy that also links its inhabitants with their Druze relatives in Damascus, the sources said.

“Al Shara seems intent on curbing the transgressions against the Druze and lessening Sweida's isolation, because if he doesn't do it, the Israelis will,” one of the sources said.

Thousands of security forces and auxiliaries have been surrounding Sweida governorate since the government takeover of Sweida city was repelled in the middle of June.

This has resulted in shortages of basic goods and medicine and left hundreds of thousands of Druze trapped in a mostly barren landscape with no access to the rest of Syria.

No to a corridor

The authorities have rejected the establishment of a humanitarian corridor to Sweida from outside the country. Israel has previously called for a passage to deliver aid directly to the city.

Sweida city has effectively been under siege for the past month since clashes broke out involving local tribes, Druze fighters and security forces. Small-scale aid deliveries have been permitted in recent weeks.

Israel also intervened in the violence last month, saying it was shielding the Druze population in the area. The Druze, who number about a million worldwide, are an offshoot of Islam. Only several hundred thousand members of the sect remain in Syria. The Druze are also present in Israel, Lebanon and Jordan.

Quoting a government source, Syria's state-run Sana news agency said no humanitarian corridors would be established from outside the country to Sweida and that aid would be provided in co-ordination with state institutions.

The Syrian government said it granted relevant UN organisations approvals to carry out humanitarian missions. The national relief groups continue to send convoys with aid, it added.

The rejection of a corridor from outside of Syria came as Israeli media reported that Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer raised the possibility of establishing a humanitarian passage to send aid directly to Sweida during a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani.

While it did not mention Mr Dermer, Syria acknowledged that Mr Al Shibani met an Israeli delegation in Paris on Tuesday to discuss security in the region.

Israel and Syria have never established diplomatic relations, although both signed a disengagement agreement in 1974 that created a UN-monitored buffer zone separating them. Sana reported that the Paris discussions touched on reactivating the agreement.