Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa accused Israel of trying to fracture Syria and promised to protect its Druze minority on Thursday after U.S. intervention to help achieve a truce in fighting between government forces and Druze fighters.

About 500 people killed in clashes, according to UK war monitor; AFP photographer counts 15 bodies strewn in city center amid looted shops and burned cars and houses

Residents emerged from their homes to scenes of devastation on Thursday after government forces withdrew from the Syrian Druze-majority city of Sweida, leaving behind looted shops, burned homes and

Hundreds of Druze from Israel pushed across the border in solidarity with their Syrian cousins they feared were under attack. Many then met relatives never seen before.

Syrian troops pulled out of the Druze heartland province of Sweida Thursday on orders from the Islamist-led government, leaving bodies strewn on the street, AFP journalists reported from the provincia

Vantage with Palki Sharma | N18G Syria’s war may have faded from headlines, but in Sweida, violence has erupted once again — this time killing over 100, mostly from the Druze community. A tribal feud between Druze and Bedouins spiralled into a deadly confrontation,

Shops were looted, homes burned and bodies littered the streets of the city. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

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 Israel's military intervention in support of the Druze minority.