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Syria Vows to Investigate Footage of Sweida Hospital Killing
A view shows Sweida National Hospital, following deadly clashes between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes, and government forces, in Syria’s predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria, July 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Syria‘s interior ministry said on Monday that it would investigate footage showing men in military fatigues shooting an unarmed man in scrubs at point-blank range in the main hospital in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida last month.
Syria‘s interior ministry said in a written statement that it had seen the “disturbing video” and “condemns and denounces this act in the strongest terms.”
The statement said the ministry tasked the deputy minister for security affairs “to directly supervise the investigation to ensure the perpetrators are identified and arrested as quickly as possible.”
The security camera footage, verified by Reuters and by a doctor who witnessed the incident as being filmed inside Sweida National Hospital, shows four men in green military fatigues and one man in a black uniform with the words “Interior Ministry” printed on his back.
In the footage, the five security forces stand in front of a group of about two dozen people in hospital scrubs, kneeling or squatting on the floor. One man in scrubs is standing.
Two of the men in fatigues grab the standing man and slap him, as if trying to force him to sit. The man in scrubs resists and pulls one of the attackers in a headlock and onto the floor.
The other armed men intervene to release their colleague. The man in scrubs is then shot twice while on the floor, first with a rifle by one of the uniformed men and then with a pistol by a second uniformed man.
In the footage, which has no sound, the fighters appear to address the rest of the group, then drag the motionless man away by his feet, leaving a streak of blood on the hospital floor.
The Syrian defense ministry did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters on the incident.
The footage is the latest to emerge of execution-style killings in Sweida, where sectarian bloodshed last month left more than 1,000 people dead, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights. A fact-finding committee has been set up to investigate reports of abuses.
WITNESS
Reuters was able to confirm the location of the footage from the floor, doors and walls, which matched media coverage of the hospital lobby. The date on the CCTV footage says the incident took place at about 3:16 p. on July 16.
Syrian armed forces were deployed to Sweida city on July 15 to quell clashes between Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters, but the violence worsened after they entered.
A senior doctor in the hospital‘s orthopedic department who was in the hospital at the time and witnessed the incident said the security forces had stormed the hospital on July 16.
The doctor identified the slain man as Muhammad Bahsas, a civil engineer who had come to the hospital to volunteer.
The doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals, said one of the security personnel who had shot Bahsas told the rest of the group: “Anyone who speaks up to us will end up like him.”
The doctor said the armed men then combed through the hospital for hours, searching for weapons and repeatedly calling the medical staff and volunteers “pigs.” The security forces kept medical staff confined to hospital rooms overnight and left the hospital by the morning, the doctor said.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.