When the Syrian civil war erupted in March 2011, Syrian Druze were targeted at times by both the Assad regime, which pressured them to support it, and by Islamist rebel groups that regarded them as infidels. The Druze straddled a fine line throughout the war, seeking, not always successfully, to be left on their own.

Syria's Islamist-led government struggled to implement a ceasefire in the predominantly Druze region of Sweida on Saturday, with machinegun fire and mortar shelling ringing out after days of bloodshed.

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 .

An American citizen from Oklahoma was among eight men, all family members, rounded up and killed during the sectarian violence that flared in Syria last week.

Syria's Druze have reached a ceasefire agreement with the Syrian government in Sweida that will take immediate effect, Druze religious leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou said in a video broadcast by state media on Wednesday.

Syrian government forces have started withdrawing from the southern province of Sweida following days of vicious clashes with militias from the Druze minority.

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian government officials and leaders in the Druze religious minority announced Wednesday a renewed ceasefire after days of clashes that have threatened to unravel the country’s postwar political transition and have drawn intervention by Syria’s powerful neighbor, Israel.

Some Syrian military units are withdrawing from the southern city of Suwayda after days of deadly fighting. Secretary of State Rubio announced late Wednesday that all parties, including Israel, agreed to a ceasefire.

Syria's southern city of Sweida witnesses a fragile ceasefire after deadly battles between Druze militiamen and Bedouin fighters. The conflict displaced over 128,000 people. While evacuation efforts are underway,