Syria's government misread how Israel would respond to its troops deploying to the country's south this week, encouraged by U.S. messaging that Syria should be governed as a centralized state, eight sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Dozens of Syrians from minority communities rallied on Saturday in London and Paris, calling for action to protect the Druze in their Sweida heartland, where sectarian violence has killed hundreds.In central London,

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, announced early on Saturday that Syria and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire. It comes after Israeli forces carried out several attacks against Syria,

The conflict drew airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighboring Israel in defense of the Druze minority before most of the fighting was halted by a truce announced Wednesday.

Clashes flared up again Friday between Druze militiamen and Sunni Bedouin tribes around Sweida in southern Syria. Footage from the Al-Arabiya network showed fires burning on the roadside and a heavy presence of Syrian security forces and other armed men.

Syrian government forces had largely pulled out of the Druze-majority southern province of Sweida after days of clashes with militias linked to the Druze religious minority that threatened to unravel the country’s fragile post-war transition.

The UN Human Rights Office in Geneva reported on Friday that fresh clashes had broken out in the Syrian province of Sweida, and that it had received "credible" reports of human rights violations. Some groups were deliberately trying to incite further violence with disinformation,

The United Nations refugee agency expressed concern on Friday about the impact of hostilities in Syria's southern city of Sweida on its aid operations, and urged all sides to allow more humanitarian access.