Hundreds of Druze gathered in the southern Syrian city of Sweida on Saturday, chanting for the “right to self-determination” and—in many cases—full independence from Damascus. Protesters waved Israeli flags and voiced support for senior cleric Hikmat al-Hijri, an influential figure in the minority community. The protest follows a week of sectarian violence that erupted on 13 July between Druze militias and Bedouin Sunni tribes. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights places the death toll at roughly 1,600, most of them Druze civilians. Israel, which bombed Syrian government positions during the clashes, said its strikes aimed to protect the minority and demilitarise southern Syria. Demonstrators accuse the Syrian government of maintaining a siege on the province despite official claims that humanitarian supplies are moving freely. State media on Saturday reported the entry of 11 aid trucks and said civil-defence teams had opened the Bosra al-Sham corridor to let civilians leave. Damascus has set up an investigative committee, announced by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, to examine last month’s bloodshed, but local Druze factions have dismissed the initiative as inadequate. Saturday’s rally, the first in Sweida to adopt the slogan of self-determination, underscores the province’s deepening estrangement from the central state.