Syrian officials and Druze leaders have announced a new ceasefire after days of violent clashes, but Israel has continued its airstrikes after intervening.

Israel has been carrying out strikes on Syria since the fall of the Assad regime last December. This week saw a major escalation, when Israel said it attacked Syria to protect the Druze, an Arab minority at the center of clashes with government loyalists.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Syrian government troops will be blocked from the area south of the capital Damascus to protect the Druze minority following Israel's attacks in the country earlier this week.

Syria says it is withdrawing troops from a flashpoint southern city after days of deadly clashes with an Arab minority group that triggered military action from Israel.

The Syrian government announced a ceasefire Tuesday after it intervened to quell the deadliest outburst of sectarian violence since March, clashes that prompted Israeli airstrikes. The ceasefire, however,

Hundreds of Druze from Israel pushed across the border in solidarity with their Syrian cousins they feared were under attack. Many then met relatives never seen before.

Israel carried out a series of powerful strikes on the Syrian capital Damascus Wednesday, escalating a campaign it says is in support of an Arab minority group involved in deadly clashes with Syrian government forces.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the Damascus headquarters served as a command center for deploying regime forces to Suwayda, a southern Syrian region gripped by days of deadly clashes between government troops, Druze militias, and Bedouin groups.