Around 940 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in week-long violence in Syria's Druze-majority province of Sweida, a war monitor reported on Saturday, amid renewed sectarian fighting despite a ceasefire announcement.

The agreement comes after intense clashes displaced tens of thousands of people and contributed to a worsening humanitarian crisis in a region still recovering from over a decade of brutal civil war.

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,

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

Israel is the primary beneficiary of what’s happening in Suwayda. It is using the security vacuum to incite divisions and push some communities toward seeking protection,’ Sheikh Sami Abil-Mona tells

More than 100 demonstrators from Canada's Druze community gathered on Parliament Hill on Friday afternoon, asking for the government to intervene in an unfolding humanitarian crisis in Syria where hundreds have already been killed.

The latest intercommunal violence, which has left some 600 people dead in Syria’s southern province of Sweida, illustrates a fundamental disagreement between the United States and Israel over the nature of the Syrian state.