The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, said the clashes started after members of a Bedouin tribe in Sweida province set up a checkpoint where they attacked and robbed a Druze man, leading to tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings between the tribes and Druze armed groups.

Israeli warplanes pounded Syrian government buildings in Damascus, escalating its campaign against Syria’s new authorities amid heavy clashes between government forces and the country’s Druze minority.

Israel bombed the Syrian army’s headquarters in Damascus after warning the Islamist-led Government to leave the country’s Druze minority alone, as authorities announced a ceasefire in the community’s southern heartland after deadly sectarian clashes.

The high-profile strike came amid a wave of sectarian violence in the southern Syrian city of Sweida, where the Druze population has clashed with local Bedouin Sunni tribes and the recently installed Syrian government, headed by Interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa who toppled former President Bashar Al-Assad in December.

Israel bombed the Syrian army’s headquarters in Damascus on Wednesday after warning the Islamist-led government to leave the country’s Druze minority alone, as authorities announced a ceasefire in the community’s southern heartland after deadly sectarian clashes.

At least 18 members of Syria's security forces have been killed in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, the Defence Ministry said, after they deployed to quell deadly sectarian clashes that had resumed on Monday,

Israeli troops on Wednesday sought to control crowds and prevent Druze from crossing into Syrian territory, after deadly sectarian violence prompted Damascus to send government forces to Syria's south.

Israel says it is intervening to protect Syria’s Druze residents who have strong ties to Israel’s Druze community. Damascus called the attack a violation of sovereignty.

Syrian government officials and leaders in the Druze religious minority announced Wednesday a renewed ceasefire after days of clashes that have threatened to unravel the country’s postwar political transition and have drawn intervention by Syria’s powerful neighbor,