🗓️ On July 14, 2025, Firas went out with his twin daughters (4th grade) to secure some necessities. While on their way, they were stopped at a checkpoint of the General Security—the jihadist apparatus of the terrorist de facto authorities—known as the Tha‘la Checkpoint.

▪️ The checkpoint personnel forced the family to return home under the pretext of bringing an ID card. The daughters were released, but their father was taken away along with his car and approximately $3,000 USD.

▪️ Firas was transferred to the basement of Assef Abu Assi’s villa in the Al-Khader residences, west of Ghazdin, where he was subjected to a so-called “field tribunal” alongside six other unarmed civilians, none of whom had committed any crime or offense. All were summarily executed in cold blood, purely on sectarian grounds, simply because they were Druze from the Unitarian community.

▪️ The six bodies were buried immediately in the Al-Ruha cemetery without being admitted to a hospital. The identities of the six other martyrs remain unknown.

✒️ This crime constitutes a summary field execution outside the rule of law, a grave breach of international humanitarian and criminal law, and falls under crimes against humanity warranting international accountability.

During the terrorist assault on al-Suwayda, forces of the General Security and the Ministry of Defense of the de facto authorities, alongside loyalist tribal militias under the command of Transitional President Ahmad al-Shar‘a (“al-Joulani”), set fire to all houses of worship in the village, including Christian churches and Druze shrines.

🔺 It is noteworthy that a similar pattern of violations targeted other Christian churches and Druze religious sites across al-Suwayda governorate. These acts amount to religious persecution and forced displacement, falling within the scope of crimes against humanity under international law.

This atrocity reflects a systematic policy pursued by the de facto authorities, which instrumentalize sectarianism as a tool to dismantle Syria’s historic pluralism, entrenching a campaign of sectarian cleansing that threatens the unity and future of Syrian society.

The attack was carried out by members of the General Security and Ministry of Defense under the de facto authorities, along with allied tribal militias led by Interim President Ahmad al-Shar’a (“al-Jolani”), during the broader terrorist assault on Suwayda. The entire village was forcibly displaced in the aftermath.

🔹 The documentation reveals charred remains of the church, a stark image reflecting the scale of devastation inflicted upon both Christian churches and Druze religious sites alike.

This act constitutes a crime of religious persecution and the deliberate destruction of places of worship, falling under the scope of crimes against humanity as defined by international law.

It further demonstrates the systematic nature of the attack, in which Syria’s historic religious and social pluralism has been deliberately targeted as part of an ongoing policy of sectarian cleansing.