Israel launched rare strikes in Damascus on Wednesday in a campaign it said was aimed at defending the Druze community after days of clashes in the southern city of Sweida.

The southern Syrian city of Suweida has been left devastated after five days of intense sectarian violence and alleged atrocities by government forces and foreign fighters. More than 590 people have been killed since clashes erupted last Sunday between Druze and

One day after reaching a ceasefire with Israel, Syrian military forces began moving into the country's Suwayda Governorate, where dozens of people have been killed in recent days amid fighting between warring tribes.

An eruption of violence in Syria this week entangled government forces, Bedouin tribes, the Druze religious minority and neighboring Israel, and highlighted just how combustible the country remains seven months after its longtime authoritarian leader was toppled.

As alarming sectarian violence swept through Syria in the third week of July, Christian communities in the region experienced a new wave of persecution. Attacks on the country's Christian, Druze and Alawite communities were perpetrated mainly by Islamist jihadists.

Following the deaths of dozens of Druze in Suwayda, southern Syria, Bianna Golodryga speaks to Dareen Khalifa from the International Crisis Group about how this is jeopardizing a fragile sense of stability in a country facing deep sectarian divisions.

Nearly 600 people have died in southern Syria amid recent violence between Bedouin and Druze communities in Suweida province, according to SOHR.

Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity go hand in hand with the fundamental right of all Syrians…to live in peace without fear,' says George Gerapetritis at UN Security Council - Anadolu Ajansı