A criminal crime ignites sectarian tension in Homs… The interim authorities: the suspect in the killing of a couple in Zeidel is a relative of the victims
The city of Homs in central Syria witnessed, on 23 November 2025, a wave of violence following a murder that took place that morning in the town of Zeidel, south of the city, claiming the lives of a Sunni couple belonging to the Bani Khalid tribe, with sectarian writings found at the crime scene.
As news of the crime spread, tensions escalated rapidly, and the city witnessed widespread armed attacks carried out by members of the Bani Khalid tribe and groups of Bedouins, primarily targeting neighborhoods with an Alawite majority.
During a press conference held today, 3 December 2025, by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Interior in the interim authority, Nour al-Din al-Babba, regarding the details of the crime that occurred in Zeidel on the 23rd of last month, he stated that investigations led to identifying the main suspect and arresting him in accordance with due process.
The spokesperson said: “After expanding the circle of suspicion and investigation, the identity of the main suspect was determined and he was duly arrested. It was found during the investigation that the killer is the individual named Mohammad al-Hamid bin Khalifa, whose mother is Tarfa, born in 1999. It was also found that he is a user of narcotic substances, especially the highly dangerous crystal meth, and that he is directly related to the victims.”
He added: “The perpetrator committed his act with the motive of theft, taking advantage of his kinship and his habitual entry into the victims’ house. After being exposed by them, he killed them in cold blood, then wrote sectarian phrases with the victims’ blood in an attempt to mislead justice, and set fire to the place to erase the evidence.”
The statements of the Ministry of Interior reveal the dangerous extent of the impact of misinformation in fueling violence in Syria, in light of the widespread spread of hate speech on social media platforms and untrustworthy media outlets. This incident also highlights how exploiting the sectarian dimension through fabrication of narratives or the promotion of inaccurate accusations can turn a criminal incident into a spark for collective violence that threatens civil peace and deepens social divisions.
It is worth noting that several Syrian cities witnessed, on Friday 28 November 2025, demonstrations by supporters of the interim authority “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham,” during which inciting slogans, hate speech, and insults against a number of Syrian components were chanted.
Videos circulating on social media showed demonstrators from among the authority’s supporters in the city of Manbij in northern Syria carrying a shoe-shining box amid chants of “Boya boya,” a derogatory expression used against Kurds in the hate speech prevalent on digital platforms.
In the city of Homs, demonstrators from among the authority’s supporters chanted insults against members of the Alawite sect.
These demonstrations came following a call by the head of the interim authority in Syria, Ahmad al-Sharaa, known as “Abu Mohammad al-Julani,” for Syrians to take to squares and public spaces on the occasion of the first anniversary of what is known as the “Battle of Deterring the Aggression.” However, activists attributed the reasons for this call to the wave of wide peaceful demonstrations that the Syrian coast and central regions witnessed on 25 November 2025 in 42 locations, in response to a call by Sheikh Ghazal Ghazal. These demonstrations were concentrated in areas with an Alawite majority and demanded an end to killing and forced detention, the release of detainees, and the adoption of a federal system.
