A fragile ceasefire has collapsed in Syria’s Sweida region as deadly clashes resume between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes. Both sides confirm renewed violence following the Syrian army’s withdrawal from key hotspots.

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.

Violence in Syria's Druze province has triggered Israeli military action, complicating relations with Turkey and creating a power vacuum that Iran could exploit.

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.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Thursday accused Israel of attempting to drag Syria into a war and said his country would not take the bait. "We, the people of Syria, know very well who is trying to drag us into war and who is working to divide us,

They were on opposite sides during Syria's civil war and now must do lifesaving work together. A makeshift brick wall divides them in their Damascus fire station. The psychological wall is higher.

A Syrian official says firefighters are facing heavy winds, high temperatures and ordnance left behind from the country's 13-year civil war as they try to extinguish some of the worst wildfires in years.

The Israeli military said it had "struck the entrance gate" of the Syrian regime's military headquarters complex in Damascus.