Deadly sectarian clashes in Syria eased Thursday, after a ceasefire was announced between groups fighting in the Druze-majority southern province and Israel signaled air strikes over recent days were suspended.

Nearly 600 people have died in southern Syria amid recent violence between Bedouin and Druze communities in Suweida province, according to SOHR.

Syria’s defense minister has announced a ceasefire after government forces entered a key city in Sweida province on Tuesday

Clashes between Bedouin tribes, government forces and members of a minority sect in Syria have left dozens dead and once again raised fears of a breakdown in the country's fragile postwar order. The country is deeply divided as it tries to emerge from decades of dictatorship and nearly 14 years of civil war.

Israel launched several deadly airstrikes that targeted Syrian government forces in Sweida. The attack came as sectarian violence flared between Druse fighters and Bedouin tribal groups.

Sectarian violence erupted again in southern Syria as local Sunni Bedouin tribes fought armed factions for the Druze religious community. The Syrian government dispatched troops to restore order, and Israel launched airstrikes to protect the Druze.

At least 18 members of Syria's security forces have been killed in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, the Defence Ministry said, after they deployed to quell deadly sectarian clashes that had resumed on Monday,

A surge in sectarian violence in southern Syria and Israeli airstrikes reaching central Damascus have pushed the war‑scarred country into a volatile juncture, a senior UN official said on Thursday, warning that renewed violence could shatter prospects for peace and fuel wider regional instability.

The clashes were reported to have begun after a Druze youth was beaten and robbed by members of the Sunni Bedouin community on a highway between the capital, Damascus, and Sweida on Sunday. The government sent troops into Sweida,

The sectarian violence between Bedouin groups and militias from the Druse religious minority killed more than 50 people, according to a local health official and a monitoring group.