The Syrian government announced Thursday that local leaders would assume control over security in the city of Sweida in an attempt to end violence that has claimed hundreds of lives and prompted

Since the church bombing, some Christians have been afraid to meet for church. A group of Kurdish Christians who are currently living in Aleppo have paused their church services, according to Majeed Kurdi, a US-based Iraqi Kurdish pastor working with Freedom Seekers International to provide aid to that group.

Israel continues to bomb Syria, ostensibly to support Druze forces in the southwest, even after ceasefire is declared.

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.

Last month's deadly church bombing outside Syria's capital is raising fears among the country's minority Christians. Some are thinking about leaving for good.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was an agreement to restore calm in Syria by late Wednesday, as he blamed misunderstandings over violence that included Israeli strikes on its neighbor's capital.