The events of the past week in Suweyda, southern Syria, have shed new light on Israel’s emerging strategy toward its northern neighbor. Early last week, a series of local disputes between Bedouin and Druze families in southern Syria escalated into an invasion of militias affiliated with the country’s new government,

The Druze religious sect, enmeshed in an outbreak of tit-for-tat violence in Syria, began roughly 1,000 years ago as an offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel,

Syria’s armed Bedouin clans' withdrawal from the Druze-majority city of Sweida brought a cautious calm to the area, with humanitarian convoys on their way.

Religious minorities in Syria face persecution under the new Islamist government, highlighting the critical importance of religious liberty as the foundation for all other freedoms

Syria has been wracked by a new wave of deadly sectarian violence that has placed the spotlight on the Druze minority at the center of rising tensions with Israel. Dozens of people were killed this week after clashes between government loyalists and Druze militias in the southern city of Suwayda,

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The Druze-majority city of Sweida in southern Syria witnessed a week of heavy clashes coupled with an offensive by pro-government troops. A ceasefire appeared to be holding on Sunday. Sweida is the capital of its province with the same name,

Syria should not be allowed back into the international community unless it is able to uphold protections for the Druze and its other minority groups, Israel has said.

One woman tells the BBC she cowered in her home waiting for gunmen to enter and "decide whether we should live or die".

The clashes between militias of the Druze religious minority and the Sunni Muslim clans killed hundreds and threatened to unravel Syria's already fragile postwar transition.