Hikmat Al-Hijri Demands Accountability, Rejects Negotiation Over July 2025 Truce Violations in Suwayda

In Suwayda (southern Syria), Druze spiritual leader Hikmat al-Hijri said the Spiritual Presidency is following up with the international community on decisive measures to “stop violations, lift the siege, and preserve lives and dignity,” while insisting that “the path toward the goal is clear, and the demands are not negotiable.”

“The speech of Hikmat al-Hijri, the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Suwayda, which addressed political files related to the region's future and its relationship with Damascus, sparked wide discussion in media circles and on social media platforms, amid differing readings of its implications, timing, and repercussions for the scene in Suwayda”

Al-Jazeera Net

Al-Hijri said the immediate goal is to compel “the aggressors” to “implement the international solution approved in the July 2025 truce,” including returning abductees, disclosing the fate of the forcibly disappeared, and liberating devastated villages and towns.

Al-Jazeera Net

He rejected Damascus’ control over some villages in Suwayda’s countryside, describing the presence of Syrian government forces there as “illegitimate control,” and he pointed to a February 26 detainee exchange between the Syrian government and the “National Guard” that released 61 detainees from Suwayda in exchange for 30 members of the Ministries of Defense and Interior held by the “National Guard.”

The wider political tension described by Orient XXI links al-Hijri’s hostility to central authorities with divisions inside the Druze community, saying his opposition to dialogue favored by sheikhs Youssef Jarbou and Hamoud Al-Hanawi has intensified after the fall of Bashar al-Assad on December 8, 2024.

In that same account, Orient XXI says the clashes in Soueïda and its province from July 13 to 19 were the deadliest, and it ties the escalation to social media spread of an audio recording insulting remarks about the Prophet Muhammad attributed to Marwan Kiwan.

Le Monde.fr describes Israeli air force strikes that forced Damascus forces, which briefly entered the Druze town, to withdraw, and it says the clashes that began Sunday between militias defending the locality, Bedouin fighters, and government troops have left nearly 250 dead, according to a Syrian NGO.

It reports that a ceasefire had been announced at 8 a.m. by the Ministry of Defense and that an agreement had been sealed with the town's Druze notables for defenders to lay down their arms and allow government settlement in the city of 150,000 inhabitants, but it adds that Hikmat Al-Hijri denounced the agreement after accusing the government of “violated it by the indiscriminate bombardment of unarmed civilians.”

annahar

In Ici Beyrouth, al-Hijri called for the creation of a “separate” region for the Druze, saying in a speech delivered at the headquarters of the spiritual presidency, “we call on all (...) free states and free peoples to stand by our side (...) to proclaim a separate region to protect us.”

The same Ici Beyrouth account says the Druze religious leader is trying to unify local armed factions and that he received a delegation from the Movement of the Men of Dignity, which announced its willingness to fight under his command.

It also notes that despite a ceasefire in force since July 20, residents accuse the government of imposing a siege on the province, while Damascus denies that claim by saying that several aid convoys have been allowed to enter.

The Times of Israël says American-mediated negotiations are underway between a senior Druze leader and Syrian authorities regarding a prisoner exchange of people detained since the July clashes in the Druze-majority province of As-Suwayda.

“Al-Hijri Insists on Accountability, Rejects Negotiation The spiritual leader of the Druze Monotheist community in Suwayda (southern Syria), Hikmat al-Hijri, said the Spiritual Presidency is following up with the international community on decisive measures to “stop violations, lift the siege, and preserve lives and dignity in a manner befitting the people of Suwayda and their humanity”

Enab Baladi

It reports that the talks aim to secure the release of 61 Soueida civilians detained since the July events in exchange for 30 members of the Interior and Defense Ministries detained by the National Guard, operating under the orders of Sheikh al-Hijri, and it adds that access to As-Suwayda remains difficult even though several aid convoys have entered there since.

In parallel, Enab Baladi frames al-Hijri’s position as rejecting bargaining and conditional loyalties, saying that “Mount Bashan is overcoming all attempts at economic siege, destructive administrative invasion, and systematic starvation policies aimed at paralyzing institutions and cutting off livelihoods.”

Annahar, however, describes a competing political track through a new initiative called The Third Current, which asserts that Sweida is an inseparable part of a united Syria and rejects secessionist aspirations and regional alignments.

Fadi Al-Atrash, a Sweida social activist and signatory of the initiative, told Annahar that the initiative is aimed at overcoming the stalemate and that it rejects proposals such as “establishing a Druze state or joining Israel,” arguing those ideas lack viability.