Scores of people have been killed in Syria's southern governorate of Suwayda after clashes began between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze armed factions. A ceasefire agreement was announced Wednesday after neighbouring Israel launched strikes on Syrian military forces,

Israel hit Damascus with powerful airstrikes on Wednesday, ostensibly to “protect” Syria’s Druze minority which has borne the brunt of ongoing sectarian clashes in the country.

PM says strikes in line with demilitarization policy, pledge to protect Druze; Damascus says truce reached with factions controlling Sweida, where sectarian violence has killed scores

But exploiting Syria’s internal instability to expand Israeli military reach will weaken Syria’s post-Assad reforms. Israel was clear since the fall of Assad that it would not allow Syrian government forces based in southern Syria. This was a clear message to al-Sharaa that they would not allow the country’s presence in the Druze majority city.

Israeli officials react to the ongoing violence in Syria's Sweida between regime forces and the local Druze community. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Israeli Druze citizens not to cross the border amid ongoing clashes in Sweida in southern Syria on Wednesday afternoon.

Significant progress in Gaza ceasefire negotiations i24NEWS journalist Amichai Stein reported on Thursday a major breakthrough in talks between Israel and Hamas, hailed by mediators as a "breakthrough" thanks to a new Israeli deployment map.

Sectarian clashes that shook southern Syria this week have killed hundreds of people, including civilians, and drawn in an array of local and international players. Here's a look at the main parties involved.

P LUMES OF SMOKE rose over Damascus on July 16th as Israeli warplanes struck Syria’s capital. Targeting the presidential palace, the defence ministry and the army command, the attack killed at least one person and wounded several others.

IDF attempts to stop Syrian Druze from entering Israel; death toll in Syrian regime attacks on Sweida nears 250; IDF airstrikes hit Syrian general staff HQ, near presidential palace, army convoys

The Syrian Ministry of Defence has announced a ceasefire in the Druze-majority city of Suwayda, saying an agreement has been reached with the city’s “notables and dignitaries” after days of deadly clashes with Bedouin tribes.

Israel has struck military tanks in southern Syria, where government forces and Bedouin tribes clash with Druze militias

The Druze religious sect, enmeshed in an outbreak of tit-for-tat violence in Syria, began roughly 1,000 years ago as an offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam.