Syrian media report Israeli strike near violence-hit Druze city

Syrian state-run media say Israel carried out an air strike near Syria's southern Druze-majority city of Suweida late on Thursday.

The Sana news agency is reporting that "Israeli occupation aircraft carried out a raid on the outskirts" of the city, without giving any further details. Israel's military has not commented on the issue.

If confirmed, it would the first Israeli attack in the area since Syrian government forces pulled out following deadly sectarian fighting on Sunday.

A monitoring group says nearly 600 people have been killed in clashes in the Suweida province involving the Druze religious minority, Bedouin fighters and government forces.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR) documented a significant outbreak of brutality in the killings that gripped the province since Sunday.

It says that 300 Druze were killed, including 146 fighters and 154 civilians, 83 of whom were "summarily executed" by government forces.

At least 257 government personnel and 18 Bedouin fighters were also killed, while three Bedouin civilians were summarily killed by Druze fighters, it added.

The fighting was sparked by a dispute between the Bedouin and Druze communities.

Another 15 government personnel were reportedly killed in Israel air strikes, which Israel said it carried out to protect the Druze and make the government forces withdraw from Suweida.

It was not immediately possible to verify the SOHR's figures.

However, security sources put the death toll at 300 and another monitoring group, the Syrian Network for Human Rights said it had documented the deaths of at least 169 civilians.

On Thursday, Suweida residents reported scenes of damage and looting, as well as bodies being found in the streets.

Convoys of fighters from Syria's Islamist-led government began entering the city on Monday, ostensibly to restore order following the clashes between the Druze and Bedouin.

But that was followed by an escalation in the fighting and a fracturing of Syria's Druze, whose religion is an offshoot of Shia Islam with its own unique identity and beliefs.

The Syrian government announced a ceasefire on Wednesday evening ahead of its withdrawal.

However, one prominent Druze leader, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri, rejected it, calling for further fighting until the "total liberation of our province from gangs", referring to government forces.

Sheikh Hajri, whose followers led the fighting against the government's forces, has sought to forge close relationships with Israel. Other branches of Suweida's Druze community have sought to work closely with Syria's new Islamist-led government.

There is also a sizeable Druze community in Israel and the occupied Golan Heights.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel intended to continue imposing its interests on Syria with force.

Israel's intervention in the clashes was done partly to protect the Druze, Netanyahu said, but also to prevent the Syrian military from deploying in the south of the country.

"That will also be our policy going forward - we will not allow Syrian army forces to enter the region south of Damascus, and will not allow any harm to the Druze," he added.

On Wednesday, Israeli air strikes caused severe damage to the Syrian ministry of defence in Damascus and struck the vicinity of the presidential palace - a dramatic escalation in Israel's repeated attacks on its neighbour since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December last year.

In a televised statement on Wednesday evening, Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa called Israel's attacks an attempt to destabilise his country.

"We find ourselves in the heart of a battle to protect the unity of our land, the dignity of our people and the resilience of our nation," he said. "The Israeli entity, which has consistently targeted our stability and sown discord since the fall of the former regime, now seeks once again to turn our sacred land into a theatre of endless chaos."

Addressing Syria's Druze, he continued: "We affirm that protecting your rights and freedoms is among our top priorities. We reject any attempt - foreign or domestic - to sow division."