Over 200 dead amid sectarian violence in Syria's Sweida, Israel jumps in | What we know

Israel justified the strikes on Syrian forces, saying it was protecting the Druze minority in the Sweida province.

Israel struck Syrian forces in the country's southern province of Sweida as sectarian violence in the region killed at least 248 people. Israel justified the strikes on Syrian forces, saying it was protecting the Druze minority.

Government soldiers stand next to confiscate items stolen during clashes in Sweida city between government forces and Druze militias at a checkpoint in Mazraa village, southern Syria. (AP)

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz has further warned Damascus that the IDF will escalate its strikes if the Syrian forces did not withdraw from the region.

But what exactly is happening in Syria’s Sweida province bordering Israel?

Sectarian violence in Syria's Sweida prompts clashes with government forces, Israel jumps in | Top points

• The latest escalation under Syria’s new leaders began with tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze armed factions in the southern Sweida province, a centre of the Druze community. Syrian government forces, sent to restore order on Monday, also clashed with Druze armed groups.
• Syrian defence minister Murhaf Abu Qasra on Tuesday announced a ceasefire, saying that an agreement was struck with the city’s “notables and dignitaries” and that government forces would “respond only to the sources of fire and deal with any targeting by outlaw groups.” However, scattered clashes continued after his announcement, as did allegations that security forces had committed violations against civilians.
• According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 248 people have been killed since the violence began in the region. The toll includes 92 members of the Druze minority, 28 of them civilians, with 21 people killed in “field executions” by government forces, including 12 men in a rest house in the city of Sweida, the report said.
• Israeli airstrikes targeted government forces' convoys heading into the provincial capital of Sweida and in other areas of southern Syria. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz said the strikes sought to “prevent the Syrian regime from harming” the Druze religious minority “and to ensure disarmament in the area adjacent to our borders with Syria.” In Israel, the Druze are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the armed forces. Katz warned that the Israeli attacks would escalate if Syrian forces did not withdraw.
• Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa said in a statement that he had tasked authorities with “taking immediate legal action against anyone proven to have committed a transgression or abuse, regardless of their rank or position.” Meanwhile, Israeli Cabinet member and minister of diaspora affairs Amichai Chikli called on X for al-Sharaa to be “eliminated without delay.”
• The violence drew international concern. The US envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, called the violence “worrisome on all sides” in a post on the social media platform X.