More than 350 people are reported to have been killed in sectarian clashes between Bedouin tribes – loyalist to the Islamist government – and the Druze religious minority in Syria.
Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa has said it is his "priority" to protect the country’s Druze citizens, after Israel vowed to destroy government forces it accused of attacking members of the religious minority in Suweida province.
In his first televised statement since Israel’s air strikes on Damascus on Wednesday, Ahmed al-Sharaa also warned that Syrians were not afraid of war.
Syrian state media reported that the military was withdrawing from Suweida under a ceasefire agreement with Druze leaders. But it is not clear whether that will hold.
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