U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack says that Israel and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire following Israel’s intervention this week in fighting between Syrian government forces and .

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.

Israeli leaders said they launched attacks on Syria this week to protect members of the Druze religious group in the country’s south, amid clashes in the area.

“The Israeli Druze are now trying to use that and urge the Israeli government to protect fellow Druze in Syria,” he said, explaining, in part, the justification for Israel’s strikes on Syria, where the Druze community has traditionally been anti-Israel, even as some leaders grow closer to Israel.

Israel has struck military tanks in southern Syria, where government forces and Bedouin tribes clash with Druze militias.

The United States said it did not support recent Israeli strikes on Syria and had made clear its displeasure, while Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa accused Israel of trying to fracture his country.

Israel has threatened to increase its involvement in Syria and vowed to protect the Druze religious minority, which began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam, the Associated Press reported. Most of the world’s Druze population lives in Syria, with the rest predominantly in Israel and Lebanon.

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.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said southern Syria would remain a demilitarized zone despite Israel allegedly allowing Syrian forces a limited presence in Sweida. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz told US Senator Ted Cruz on Thursday that he “did not trust”Syrian Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa,