Syrian troops withdrew from Sweida after the truce was announced but clashes sparked up again late Thursday between the tribal Bedouin fighters and the Druze, part of a religious

Israel’s demand for a demilitarized zone in southern Syria and its promise to protect the Druze minority are putting it in deepening conflict with the new regime in Damascus.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the Damascus headquarters served as a command center for deploying regime forces to Suwayda, a southern Syrian region gripped by days of deadly clashes between government troops, Druze militias, and Bedouin groups.

Syria's interim president accused Israel on Thursday of "trying to drag us into war" after the Netanyahu government launched airstrikes in Damascus.

Syria TV has released footage of the moment its Damascus studio captured an Israeli strike on the Syrian Defense Ministry.

"If Israel feels that a certain leader...is an evident threat to its national security, it will operate," a former Israeli envoy told Newsweek.

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

The State Department condemned recent Israeli strikes in Syria, and Secretary Marco Rubio announced a U.S.-brokered agreement between Israel and Syria to end immediate violence.