Late Wednesday evening Swedish time, Syria's Defense Ministry announced that it had begun withdrawing troops from Sweida in the southern part of the country. According to the US, an agreement to"restore calm" in the area has been reached between the parties. However, a Druze leader, Hikmat al-Hijri, has distanced himself from the agreement.

In a televised speech, Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa thanked American, Arab and Turkish mediators for"saving the region from an unknown fate." According to al-Sharaa, local groups will now be responsible for security in Sweida, the state-run Sana news agency reported.

516 people have been killed in clashes in the area since Sunday, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Of them, 154 were civilians, according to the data.

Criticizing Israel

Ahmed al-Sharaa is coming down hard on Israel after Wednesday's Israeli attacks on Syrian cities, accusing Israel of destabilizing the country and seeking"chaos and devastation." According to al-Sharaa, Israel targeted both civilian infrastructure and government buildings.

At the same time, Syrian government forces have been accused of killing Druze civilians during the clashes.

"We are keen to hold accountable those who committed violations and abuses against our Druze people," al-ASharaa said in a televised address, according to the AFP news agency.

Israeli attacks

It was late last week that clashes broke out between Druze and Bedouin in the province and city of Sweida, leading to the deployment of Syrian government forces in an attempt to quell the violence.

This in turn led to Israel carrying out airstrikes on Syria's Defense Ministry in Damascus on Wednesday, among other things. Israel presents its attacks as a defense of the Druze minority - which is also found in Israel - but also sees the presence of Syrian government forces in southwestern Syria as a threat to Israel.