Israel’s demand for a demilitarized zone in southern Syria and its promise to protect the Druze minority are putting it in deepening conflict with the new regime in Damascus.

Members of Syria's Druze community are searching for loved ones and counting their dead after days of clashes in a southern province that left bloodied bodies of civilians on the streets and homes loo

Syrian minority the Druze were at the centre of a new conflict, following another outbreak of violence. What began as fighting between local Bedouin groups and Druze turned into an international conflict that saw Israel bombing

Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa accused Israel of trying to fracture Syria and promised to protect its Druze minority on Thursday after U.S. intervention to help achieve a truce in fighting between government forces and Druze fighters.

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

Clashes that shook southern Syria this week have killed hundreds of people, including civilians, and drawn in an array of both local and international players, harking back to the dynamics of the country’s nearly 14-year civil war.

Syria's leader Ahmed al-Sharaa accused Israel on Thursday of sowing discord with a wave of airstrikes following deadly clashes with the Druze community.

The White House is attributing the outbreak of violence in the Middle East between the Syrian government and Israel to a "misunderstanding" over ethnic grudges.