When Syria’s devastating, nearly 14-year civil war concluded last year with the removal of dictator Bashar al-Assad, a collective sigh of relief swept across the nation. Many Syrians harbored hopes of finally returning to the homes and lands they had been forced to abandon.
The protracted conflict had uprooted more than half of the country’s population, sending millions fleeing to neighboring countries and beyond, while countless others sought refuge in safer areas within Syria’s borders.
However, the nation’s challenging transition to new leadership has, unexpectedly, triggered fresh waves of displacement. This new turmoil is fueled by a complex mix of retaliatory actions, deep-seated sectarian violence, historical property disagreements, and ongoing Israeli occupation in southern Syria.
Between December 2024 and July 2025 alone, over 430,000 Syrians were newly displaced, as reported by the United Nations. The escalating unrest has spared no group, affecting diverse religious and ethnic communities across various regions of the country.
The southern province of Sweida experienced some of the most significant displacements, marked by deadly clashes that erupted last summer. The initial fighting pitted the Druse, a prominent religious minority in Sweida, against their Bedouin neighbors.
Reem al-Hawaren, a Bedouin resident of a nearby village, recounted watching in terror for over a week as violence consumed Sweida’s provincial capital in early July. Long-standing tensions between the Druse and Bedouins, descendants of nomadic tribes, quickly escalated into brutal bloodshed.
The conflict swiftly drew in forces aligned with the government in Damascus, deepening its sectarian undertones. Like Syria’s new leadership, the Bedouins are part of the country’s Sunni Muslim majority.
The Druse militias in control of Sweida Province have openly resisted government efforts to integrate them into the national military and assert new central authority over the region. This defiance highlights a broader challenge for the new government as it attempts to unify a nation deeply fractured by years of civil war, which had left Syria segmented into multiple zones of control.
Even as the clashes intensified in Sweida’s capital, Ms. al-Hawaren noted that her village of al-Shahba, located about 10 miles away, remained eerily calm. Like Sweida, al-Shahba was home to a mixed population of Druse and Bedouins.
However, everything changed abruptly on the morning of July 17. Druse gunmen scaled the roof of a building near her home and issued an ultimatum: all Bedouin residents must leave within the hour, according to Ms. al-Hawaren, 43, and her husband, Muhammad, 42.
She and her family fled to a relative’s house, where they remained in terror for three days. Eventually, the Syrian Red Crescent arrived to evacuate her family and hundreds of other Bedouins on buses.
They found themselves on the outskirts of Damascus, where they have been sheltering for months. Despite the horrors they endured, Ms. al-Hawaren expresses a profound desire to return home.
“On what basis did they force us to leave our homes?” she asked, referring to the Druse gunmen. A civil servant with the local water authority, she declared, “It’s my home, my land. Of course I’m going to return.”
From the hotel where her family now resides, Ms. al-Hawaren recalled the terrifying moments when gunmen ordered her neighbors to leave, followed by the chilling sound of gunfire. It was only later that she discovered six family members, including her 85-year-old mother-in-law and 7-year-old niece, Taj, had been killed.
According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, more than 1,300 people were killed in the violence, including nearly 400 civilians, predominantly Druse. Another monitoring group reported an even higher casualty count.
The New York Times independently confirmed at least one execution of a Druse civilian by government security forces and documented four other instances, some carried out by men in military uniforms.
Other outbreaks of violence, often fueled by sectarian tensions, have forced tens of thousands more Syrians from their homes since the transfer of power last December. Disputes over land and property ownership also contribute significantly to this new wave of displacement.
Before the war, Syria had a population of 23 million, with over 12 million displaced either internally or externally during the conflict, as per the U.N. refugee agency. Since Mr. al-Assad’s removal, at least 2.8 million have managed to return, the United Nations reports.
In some of these land disputes, individuals attempting to reclaim their property have sought to evict current residents, a situation confirmed by U.N. officials, local police, and various human rights groups.
While some of these contested properties were seized during the civil war, many of these land battles trace back decades, highlighting deep-seated historical grievances.
A significant number of cases originate from the Assad regime’s controversial practice of expropriating land from certain communities and redistributing it to favored groups, such as the Alawites, the religious minority to which the Assad family belongs.
Consequently, many Alawites now find themselves in a precarious and vulnerable position.
In late August, hundreds of Alawites fled al-Soumariya, a Damascus suburb, after security forces announced an inspection of property ownership deeds, followed by a raid. This information comes from local residents and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitoring group.
The day after the inspection was announced, armed groups linked to the new government reportedly raided homes and briefly detained local residents, according to an anonymous local official and resident who feared retribution.
In subsequent days, Maher Marwan Idlibi, the governor of Damascus Province, told state media that the events in al-Soumariya were a consequence of decades of illegal land seizures and corrupt real estate practices under the Assad regime.
Mr. Idlibi urged residents to allow authorities to adjudicate property ownership claims, cautioning against taking matters into their own hands to prevent “chaos,” as reported by state media.
One 32-year-old Alawite woman, who also requested anonymity due to fear of reprisal, stated that she and her neighbors had prepared their property documents for the anticipated government committee. Instead, they were shocked by the arrival of armed forces.
She described how nearly two dozen masked officers in military uniforms stormed her neighborhood, broke through her door, dragged her out by her hair, and subjected her and her brothers to sectarian insults.
The woman explained that she has been unable to join her neighbors in fleeing because she has no money and nowhere else to go.
The Interior and Information Ministries, along with Mr. Idlibi’s office, have not responded to requests for comment regarding the alleged violence and verbal abuse during the al-Soumariya raid.
Earlier, an Interior Ministry spokesman claimed that national military forces were not involved in the evictions. He asserted that the forces present were removing individuals connected to the ousted regime’s military from provincial government buildings, which would then be renovated to house members of the country’s new military.
In the southern province of Quneitra, close to the Israeli border, Israeli forces invaded Syrian towns just days after the Assad regime was overthrown last December.
Since then, Israel has expanded its occupation of the area, leading to the destruction of homes and further displacement of civilians, according to local officials and Human Rights Watch.
“Israel’s military forces operating in Syria should not have a free hand to seize homes, demolish them, and drive families out,” stated Hiba Zayadin, a senior Syria researcher with Human Rights Watch.
Local officials and residents estimate that at least dozens of families have been displaced as a direct consequence of these actions.
Israel has characterized these incursions as temporary measures necessary to safeguard its own security concerns.