Israeli officials urged Druze citizens to stay home to avoid risking their lives amid ongoing violence in Syria. The Druze, historically navigating power shifts, remain politically divided after Assad's fall.

The fighting had threatened to unravel Syria's post-war political transition and brought further military intervention by neighbouring Israel.View on euronews

The Syrian government withdrew its forces from Druze-dominated areas in the south on Wednesday after several days of heavy fighting, declaring a ceasefire in the process. Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa spoke to the nation for the first time since Israel began launching heavy airstrikes against regime targets.

Syria's Druze have reached a ceasefire agreement with the Syrian government in Sweida that will take immediate effect, Druze religious leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou said in a video broadcast by state media on Wednesday.

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

Renewed clashes broke out overnight between Druze armed groups and members of Bedouin clans in southern Syria, and government forces were preparing to deploy again to the area Friday after pulling out under a ceasefire agreement that halted several days of violence earlier this week,

DAMASCUS (Reuters) -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 helped end deadly fighting between government forces and Druze fighters in the south.