BEIRUT: Three protesters were wounded by gunfire Wednesday while trying to weld shut a branch of Syria’s ruling Baath party in a southern province hit by nearly a month of anti-government demonstrations.
It is the first time protesters have been injured since demonstrations began last month in Sweida province, the heartland of Syria’s Druze minority, after the government lifted fuel subsidies.
The move dealt a heavy blow to Syrians reeling from war and economic woes.
“They fired at protesters who were trying to shut a Baath office, leaving three wounded,” an activist in Sweida told AFP.
Local media outlet Suwayda24 said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Baath party members who had been guarding the building fired at protesters, wounding three.
The outlet, which is run by citizen journalists, shared a video on X saying it showed “guards of the Baath command building... firing to disperse a group of protesters who were trying to close off the building.”
In recent weeks, demonstrators have welded the doors of offices of the Baath party shut in an act of defiance, while others have removed photos of President Bashar Assad in the city.
Suwayda24 said dozens of protesters took to the streets of Sweida on Tuesday. Such demonstrations have occurred daily in recent weeks, with larger numbers attending on Fridays.
Protests against deteriorating economic conditions have erupted sporadically in Sweida since 2020.
Smaller, sporadic protests have also taken place in neighboring Daraa province, the cradle of Syria’s 2011 uprising, which Assad bloodily suppressed.
The Druze, who follow an offshoot of Shiite Islam, made up less than three percent of Syria’s pre-war population. They have largely kept out of the conflict.
Sweida has been mostly spared from the fighting, and has only faced sporadic jihadist attacks, which were repelled.
Syrian security services have a limited presence in the province, and Damascus has turned a blind eye to Druze men refusing to undertake compulsory military service.
Syria’s war began after the government repressed peaceful protests in 2011 and quickly escalated into a deadly conflict that pulled in jihadists and foreign powers.
The conflict has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and battered the country’s infrastructure and industry.
Three anti-government protesters wounded in Syria: activists
https://arab.news/rzhbn
Three anti-government protesters wounded in Syria: activists
- It is the first time protesters have been injured since demonstrations began last month in Sweida province
- The move dealt a heavy blow to Syrians reeling from war and economic woes
Israel police to deploy around Al-Aqsa for Ramadan, Palestinians report curbs
- The Al-Aqsa compound is a central symbol of Palestinian identity and also a frequent flashpoint
JERUSALEM: Israeli police said Monday that they would deploy in force around the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins this week, as Palestinian officials accused Israel of imposing restrictions at the compound.
Over the course of the month of fasting and prayer, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians traditionally attend prayers at Al-Aqsa — Islam’s third-holiest site, located in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967 and later annexed.
Arad Braverman, a senior Jerusalem police officer, said forces would be deployed “day and night” across the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, and in the surrounding area.
He said thousands of police would also be on duty for Friday prayers, which draw the largest crowds of Muslim worshippers.
Braverman said police had recommended issuing 10,000 permits for Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, who require special permission to enter Jerusalem.
He did not say whether age limits would apply, adding that the final number of people would be decided by the government.
The Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate said in a separate statement it had been informed that permits would again be restricted to men over 55 and women over 50, mirroring last year’s criteria.
It said Israeli authorities had blocked the Islamic Waqf — the Jordanian?run body administering the site — from carrying out routine preparations, including installing shade structures and setting up temporary medical clinics.
A Waqf source confirmed the restrictions and said 33 of its employees had been barred from entering the compound in the week before Ramadan.
The Al-Aqsa compound is a central symbol of Palestinian identity and also a frequent flashpoint.
Under long?standing arrangements, Jews may visit the compound — which they revere as the site of their second temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD — but they are not permitted to pray there.
Israel says it is committed to maintaining this status quo, though Palestinians fear it is being eroded.
Braverman reiterated Monday that no changes were planned.
In recent years, a growing number of Jewish ultranationalists have challenged the prayer ban, including far?right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who prayed at the site while serving as national security minister in 2024 and 2025.
