Syrian government forces have started withdrawing from the southern province of Sweida following days of vicious clashes with militias from the Druze minority. Druze leaders and Syrian government officials announced a renewed ceasefire late on Wednesday that was mediated by the United States, Turkey and Arab countries. Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa said in an address early on Thursday that some Druze factions and clerics were appointed to maintain internal security in Sweida. However, Israeli strikes targeting government troops in defense of the Druze did not immediately stop. The dayslong fighting has threatened to unravel Syria's postwar political transition and brought in further military intervention by Israel.

Syria's defense minister has announced a ceasefire just hours after government forces entered a key city in the volatile Sweida province. Tuesday's announcement follows deadly sectarian clashes between Druze factions and Sunni Bedouin tribes that killed over 30 people. That's according to Syria's Interior Ministry. However, fighting and allegations of civilian abuses by security forces continue. Meanwhile, Israel launched airstrikes on Syrian military convoys, claiming to protect the Druze minority near its border. Syria condemned the strikes, accusing Israel of aggression. The United Nations has urged all parties to stop the violence and engage in dialogue as ser escalation. Sectarian tensions remain high.

Israel has struck military tanks in southern Syria, where government forces and Bedouin tribes clash with Druze militias. Dozens of people have been killed in the fighting between local militias and clans in Syria's Sweida province. Government security forces that were sent to restore order on Monday also clashed with local armed groups. The Interior Ministry has said more than 30 people died and nearly 100 others have been injured in that fighting. U.N. Deputy Special Envoy for Syria Najat Rochdi has expressed "deep concern" over the violence in the country struggling for stability after a 13-year civil war.

The Lebanese army has condemned Israel's airstrikes on suburbs of Beirut, warning that such attacks are weakening the role of Lebanon's armed forces that might eventually suspend cooperation with the committee monitoring the truce that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war. The army's statement Friday came hours after the Israeli military struck several buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs that it said held underground facilities used by Hezbollah for drone production. The Lebanese army said it started coordinating with the committee observing the ceasefire after Israel's military issued a warning and sent patrols to the areas that were to be struck to search them.

Syria's new security forces checked IDs and searched cars in the central city of Homs a day after protests by members of the Alawite minority erupted in gunfire and stirred fears that the country's fragile peace could break down. A tense calm prevailed Thursday after checkpoints were set up throughout the country's third-largest city, which has a mixed population of Sunni and Shia Muslims, Alawites and Christians. The security forces are controlled by the former insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which led the charge that unseated former President Bashar Assad.

A new round of Israeli airstrikes in Yemen have targeted the Houthi rebel-held capital of Sanaa and multiple ports. The World Health Organization's director-general said the bombardment on Thursday took place just "meters away" as he was about to board a flight in Sanaa. He says a crew member was hurt. The strikes followed several days of Houthi attacks and launches setting off sirens in Israel. Israel's military says it attacked infrastructure used by the Houthis at the international airport in Sanaa, power stations and ports. The Israeli military later said it wasn't aware that the WHO chief was at the location in Yemen.