Suwayda Governorate in the context of "Daraa Governorate"

Rif Dimashq Governorate (Arabic: محافظة ريف دمشق, romanized: Moḥaafaẓat Reef Demashq, lit. "Damascus Countryside" or "Damascus Suburbs") is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the southwestern part of the country. It borders the governorates of Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda in the southwest, Homs in the north, Lebanon in the west and Jordan in the south. The capital is the city of Douma.

The Governorate completely surrounds the city and governorate of Damascus and it has an area of 18,032 km² and a population of 2,273,074 (2004 census).

The Southern Operations Room (Arabic: غرفة العمليات الجنوبية, romanized: Ghurfat Aleamaliaat Aljanubia), abbreviated as SOR, and also translated as the Southern Operations Command, is a Syrian rebel coalition consisting of various Syrian opposition groups and defectors that initially operated in the southern provinces of Daraa, Suwayda and Quneitra, though they expanded to Damascus, and Rif Dimashq. The group withdrew from Damascus following HTS' arrival.

The Southern Operations Room publicly declared their formation on 6 December 2024, to coordinate the southern Syria offensive in the 2024 Syrian opposition offensives. The group originated in the Southern Front which previously fought against the Assad regime in an earlier phase of the war. The formation process for what would become the Southern Operations Room began in 2023, with advisers from the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham-led Military Operations Command bringing together the leaders of around 25 opposition factions in southern Syria to coordinate planning for a future military operation.

Sweida (Arabic: ٱلسُّوَيْدَاء, romanized: as-Suwaydāʾ), also known as Suwayda, is a mainly Druze city located in southern Syria, close to the border with Jordan, with small Christian and Sunni Muslim Bedouin minorities.

It is the capital of Suwayda Governorate, one of Syria's 14 governorates, bordering Jordan in the South, Daraa Governorate in the West and Rif Dimashq Governorate in the north and east.

Beginning on 29 November 2024, southern Syrian opposition groups began assaults on Daraa Governorate and As-Suwayda Governorate in Southern Syria, along the nation's border with Jordan. The offensive was publicly announced as an effort by the Southern Operations Room coordinated with the Northwestern Syria offensive to implement a multi-front advance toward Damascus. The Syrian Armed Forces withdrew from their positions around the city of Daraa to reinforce Damascus but offered no resistance there, and southern opposition groups took Damascus in the early hours of 8 December, shortly before the arrival of northern opposition groups later that day.

Jabal al-Druze (Arabic: جبل الدروز, romanized: Jabal ad-Durūz, lit. 'Mountain of the Druze'), also known as Jabal al-Arab or Jabal Hauran, is an elevated volcanic region in Hauran in the Suwayda Governorate of southern Syria. Most of the inhabitants of this region are Druze, and there are also significant Christian communities. Safaitic inscriptions were first found in this area. The Jabal Druze State was an autonomous area in the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon from 1921 to 1936, which had 42 of the Haurans ~180 towns. In the past, the name Jabal al-Druze was used for a different area, located in Mount Lebanon.

In Syria, most Druze reside in Suwayda Governorate, which encompasses almost all of Jabal al-Druze. This governorate is unique in Syria as it has a Druze majority. Additionally, it has integrated Christian communities that have long coexisted harmoniously with the Druze in these mountains.