Update:: With Israeli Approval.. Syrian Interior Ministry: Forces Prepare to Redeploy in Sweida

SadaNews - The spokesperson for the Syrian Ministry of Interior said today, Friday, that security forces are preparing to redeploy in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida to diffuse clashes between the Druze and Bedouin tribes.

The Syrian presidency accused the Druze fighters in Sweida on Thursday night of violating the ceasefire under which government forces withdrew.

Israel has demanded that the Syrian government withdraw from the south and warned that it would not allow an increase in its presence at the border, but an official political source in Tel Aviv announced that its government permitted this move.

The source stated in a brief statement, as translated by SadaNews, that part of the Syrian internal security forces would be allowed to enter Sweida within the next 48 hours.

Meanwhile, Arab tribes in Syria declared a state of emergency yesterday evening, Thursday, to assist the Bedouin tribes in the Sweida governorate in southern Syria.

The tribes said in a statement received by the German news agency, "We, the sons of the Syrian tribes, are following with great concern the crimes of murder and extermination committed by the terrorist Al-Hajri militia against the Bedouin tribes in the Sweida governorate, and the displacement and uprooting it has caused among innocent civilians. Based on our moral and tribal duty, we call on the Syrian government not to interfere or hinder the movements of the fighters who have come from outside the region to support their brothers from the Bedouin tribes; these are exercising their legitimate right to defend the oppressed and protect women, children, and the elderly from aggression."

The statement affirmed that "any action taken against these fighters is a blatant bias towards the perpetrators of crimes, and anyone behind it bears a moral and historical responsibility for the continuation of the massacres. The Syrian tribes stand united behind their defending sons, and any harm to them will be met with a unified stance with no compromise. "

Tribal fighters have begun attacking the city of Sweida and have seized several villages and towns, most notably the town of Al-Mazra'a, and have approached the city of Sweida from the northern side near the Damascus road. A source in the tribal forces told the German news agency that the number of tribal fighters participating in the attack exceeds 50,000, with tens of thousands waiting to arrive early Friday from areas in eastern Syria and the Aleppo countryside.

The source confirmed that "41 tribes and clans are participating in the battles, which constitute more than 70% of the population of Syria," and that "Arab tribes in Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon are preparing to head to Sweida after appeals from the sons of the tribes to King Abdullah II of Jordan and the sheikhs of the Anbar tribes in Iraq."

According to tribal sources, more than 100 people were killed on Thursday during an attack by factions loyal to Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hajri, and tens of thousands have been displaced from their villages, with their homes set on fire.