Damascus believed it had tacit approval to restore control in Sweida; Israeli airstrikes followed reports of troop abuses, as U.S. mediation helped broker a limited ceasefire.

Despite reports indicating the strike was carried out by Israel, Channel 12 reported that the Israeli military had not conducted the strikes. Israel carried out an airstrike in the vicinity of Syria's Sweida,

Government forces that were initially sent to restore order but effectively sided with the Bedouins against the Druze were redeployed to halt renewed fighting that erupted Thursday in the southern province of Sweida. The violence also drew airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighboring Israel before a truce was reached.

Israeli officials urged Druze citizens to stay home to avoid risking their lives amid ongoing violence in Syria. The Druze, historically navigating power shifts, remain politically divided after Assad's fall.

We will not allow the terrorist regime of radical Islam in Syria to harm the Druze… We are committed to our Druze brothers in Israel to do everything to prevent harm to their Druze brothers in Syria…,

An eruption of violence in Syria this week entangled government forces, Bedouin tribes, the Druze religious minority and neighboring Israel, and highlighted just how combustible the country remains se

An eruption of violence in Syria this week that entangled government forces, Bedouin tribes, the Druze religious minority and neighboring Israel highlighted just how combustible the country remains seven months after its longtime authoritarian leader was toppled.

Once again, images of horrifying violence are pouring out of Syria: dead bodies piled up in a hospital corridor. Gunmen calling out insults as they drive their cars over the corpses of murdered civilians.