A Syrian armed group in Syria’s city of Sweida had hidden the Christian pastor and several members of his extended family from a local military conflict last week, according to a released report.
As the fight between the government-sponsored Sunni Bedouins and Druze militias was fought, the Rev. Khalid Meza, who was killed along with 11 family members, including at least 11 women, on July 16, was killed, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR).
“The assailants fired directly on everyone in the house, extending the killing to include family dogs. This is an act that reflects the extreme cruelty of the genocide,” Thor reported.
Sohr has identified the attacker as “a member of the (Syrian) Ministry of Defense.” This supported Sunni Bedouin fighters operating under the war-torn Governor Sweida in southern Syria, but the perpetrators were unclear in other reports. Juliet Amor, an aid worker for the local partners of the Christian support group Open Door, said the “armed group” had killed their families.
“They were killed while hiding in their homes from shootings by armed groups,” Syria-based Amor told Premier. “They went into the house and killed them all. So he wasn’t killed because he was a Christian, but because he was from the Druze family.”
Amor said that Rev. Meza, who led the Good Shepherd Evangelical Church in Sweida, was a Christian with his wife and daughter, but the rest of his relatives was Druze.
He visited the house and had a prayer team that gave people the first knowledge of Christ and the gospel, she said.
“He served others and made him believe in Jesus more, but he wasn’t killed because he was a Christian. I don’t think the group knew that,” she told the Premier.
Other reports have killed more than 20 people in the massacre of Rev. Meza’s homes.
According to Israel 365News, a few days before the violence last week, they were asked to jihad at the doors of churches in Sweida and Damascus, scratched their heads, and were placed at the doors of churches seeking to encourage rape Christian women and loot the Christian home.
Sohr reported that following the military attack by the “Syrian government forces” in the city of Sweida on July 15, it documented serious conduct against unarmed civilians, including enforcement that constitutes war crimes under international humanitarian law.
Sohr called for the establishment of an independent UN fact-finding committee to investigate crimes committed against Sweida civilians and to hold all perpetrators accountable regardless of their position or affiliation.
Last week, the sectarian battle between Sunni Bedouin fighters and Druze minority militias reportedly killed more than 1,000 people in violence despite announcements of a ceasefire on July 15th and 16th.
After the 2013 civil war, it followed the collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, followed by the Battle of the Sunni Bedouins and the Druze. The government under President Ahmed al-Shara was said to have driven Bedouin fighters out of Sweida and deployed security forces to enforce a ceasefire, but Druze leaders have denounced government forces of past and ongoing abuse.
The battle between the Druze and Bedouin groups in the city of Sweida and surrounding villages began on July 13, with the Syrian transitional government deploying Syrian troops to restore order between July 14 and 16, and a ceasefire was announced on July 15.
Another ceasefire was announced on July 16th, but the Druze group reportedly committed a massacre against local Bedouins, with as many as 50,000 Bedouins moving towards Sweida. Government forces reportedly quelled the violence on Saturday (July 19th).
