Israel launched rare strikes in Damascus on Wednesday in a campaign it said was aimed at defending the Druze community after days of clashes in the southern city of Sweida.

Syrian security forces are deploying in the restive province of Suwayda after days of communal fighting in which hundreds of people have been killed, the country’s interior ministry says.

A tense calm prevails in the city of Al-Suwayda, in southern Syria, on Sunday, with sporadic clashes outside the city despite the ceasefire in effect, a week after sectarian violence between Bedouin and Druze groups.

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 seven months after its longtime authoritarian leader was toppled.

The Syrian government announced a ceasefire Tuesday after it intervened to quell the deadliest outburst of sectarian violence since March, clashes that prompted Israeli airstrikes. The ceasefire, however,

One day after reaching a ceasefire with Israel, Syrian military forces began moving into the country's Suwayda Governorate, where dozens of people have been killed in recent days amid fighting between warring tribes.

As alarming sectarian violence swept through Syria in the third week of July, Christian communities in the region experienced a new wave of persecution. Attacks on the country's Christian, Druze and Alawite communities were perpetrated mainly by Islamist jihadists.

The southern Syrian city of Suweida has been left devastated after five days of intense sectarian violence and alleged atrocities by government forces and foreign fighters. More than 590 people have been killed since clashes erupted last Sunday between Druze and

Mr. Funk was the managing editor of Pleroma Media, and worked as a breaking news reporter at The Messenger after spending 25 years at Fox Television as a producer, executive producer, and digital content director.

Following the deaths of dozens of Druze in Suwayda, southern Syria, Bianna Golodryga speaks to Dareen Khalifa from the International Crisis Group about how this is jeopardizing a fragile sense of stability in a country facing deep sectarian divisions.

Syrian President Sharaa announces troop deployment amid deadly Bedouin-Druze clashes and fragile Israel-brokered ceasefire.