U.S. Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack says that Israel and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire, following Israel’s intervention this week in fighting between Syrian government forces and Bedouin tribes and armed groups from the Druze minority.

Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has urged Sunni Bedouin tribes to honor a ceasefire aimed at ending deadly clashes with Druze-linked militias Sweida.

Syria's government misread how Israel would respond to its troops deploying to the country's south this week, encouraged by U.S. messaging that Syria should be governed as a centralized state, eight sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Attacks against Druze civilians, allegedly carried out by members of government forces, have multiplied in recent days in the city of Sweida and its surrounding areas, which remain cut off from the outside world.

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 helped end deadly fighting between government forces and Druze fighters in the south.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu celebrated the success of his “peace through strength” stance against Damascus as a U.S.-led peace plan quells violence in southwest Syria. Netanyahu made no apologies for his military’s actions against the Syrian government,