Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa's government responded by deploying forces to the city. Druze residents of Suweida told the BBC they had witnessed "barbaric acts" as gunmen - government forces and foreign fighters - attacked people. Israel targeted these forces, saying they were acting to protect the Druze.

Syria's armed Bedouin clans announced Sunday they had withdrawn from the Druze-majority city of Sweida following weeklong clashes and a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, as humanitarian aid convoys started to enter the battered southern city.

That understanding was based on comments from the U.S. special envoy and security talks with Israel, sources said.

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

Once again, images of horrifying violence are pouring out of Syria: dead bodies piled up in a hospital corridor. Gunmen calling out insults as they drive their cars over the corpses of murdered civilians.

Thousands went missing during Syria’s decades-long intervention in Lebanon. Months after the fall of the Syrian regime, families are still clinging to hope.

Special Envoy Tom Barrack announces cessation of hostilities beginning 5 pm Damascus time Sunday - Anadolu Ajansı