Armed fighters in streets of Sweida
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As alarming sectarian violence swept through Syria in the third week of July, Christian communities in the region experienced a new wave of persecution. Attacks on the country's Christian, Druze and Alawite communities were perpetrated mainly by Islamist jihadists.
Syria misread Israel's response to troop deployment, leading to strikes and violence in Sweida, escalating tensions.
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.
Israel and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire, the U.S. envoy to Turkey said on Friday, after days of bloodshed in the predominantly Druze area that has killed over 300 people.
At the center of a crisis in Syria are the Druze — a secretive religious minority that long carved out a precarious identity across Syria, Lebanon and Israel.