Challenge to al-Jolani, Druze Community Founds Its Military Council

The establishment of the Suwayda Military Council, a region south of Damascus inhabited mainly by the Druze community, was announced on Sunday. The flag of the newly formed council, displayed at a press conference along with the Druze flag, depicts the same map used by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on a blue background, with the Euphrates River in evidence and the province of Hatay, whose annexation to Turkey has never been recognized by Syria.

Soon after its foundation, several factions declared their adhesion to the council, including the Nabi Shuaib Forces and the Bayraq Suleiman Bin Daoud Forces, all of which were already part of the Southern Operation Room, a coalition of rebel factions that first reached Damascus. These factions, like the SDF, had already refused the dissolution and integration of individual elements into the new defense ministry announced by the interim government on December 25. After their refusal, on January 1, Suwayda's factions had prevented a military convoy from Damascus from entering the region.

On the other hand, on February 17, the interim authorities announced an agreement with some factions of Daraa and Quneitra to form a "Southern Division" within the new Syrian army. Suwayda's frictions with Damascus are not exclusively military in nature: to the de facto governor since 2024, Muhsina al-Mahathawi, Damascus has opposed a trustee, Mustafa Bakour.

THE COUNCIL CLAIMS to "work in coordination with the revolutionary political forces, civil society and the spiritual body, represented by His Eminence Hikmat al-Hijri." The founding of the council would indeed appear to reflect the line of al-Hijri, who since the fall of the Ba'ath regime has repeatedly declared his decentralized vision for the future of the country even though, as the spiritual leader of the Syrian Druze community, he has already declared the council illegitimate.

The strategy of al-Hijri and the factions that reject the authority of the interim government, including the Suwayda Military Council, appears to mirror that of the SDF: to negotiate their position in the new Syria while maintaining autonomy and an armed force, at least until an agreement is reached.

“We will not allow the new Syrian army to enter the territories south of Damascus. We demand the complete demilitarization of southern Syria, in the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a military ceremony hours after the council was founded, prompting condemnation across Syria. Hundreds of people took to the streets in Quneitra and Daraa, while a Druze delegation, including prominent figures such as Suleiman Abdul Baqi, Laith al-Balous and Moanis Abu Hala, met with al-Jolani, apparently to distance themselves from the Israeli prime minister.

SINCE the fall of Assad, Israel has repeatedly expressed support for minorities in Syria, mainly through Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who on Monday in Brussels called the Syrian government "a jihadist terrorist group." According to the public broadcaster Kan , Israel has also launched a pilot program that would allow Syrian Druze to work in the Golan Heights in construction and agriculture.

The events in Suwayda came on the eve of the Syrian National Dialogue Conference called by the government, which has been strongly criticized by some sectors of Syrian society, starting with the Democratic Autonomous Administration of Northeast Syria (Daanes), which denounced the exclusion of its representatives. The Kurdish National Council (KNC/ENKS), an organization in opposition to Daanes and strongly linked to Turkey, also boycotted the conference, stating that the event "is poorly structured and excludes Kurdish political representation".