One elderly man had been shot in the head in his living room. Another in his bedroom. The body of a woman lay in the street. After days of bloodshed in Syria's Druze city of Sweida, survivors emerged on Thursday to collect and bury the scores of dead found across the city.

Injured government soldiers and civilians were treated after clashes broke out between Druze militiamen and Sunni Bedouin tribes in Syria's southern Sweida province, threatening to

Clashes in Syria between Bedouin tribes, government forces, and the Druze minority have left dozens dead, raising fears of escalating violence.

DAMASCUS (Reuters) -Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa accused Israel of trying to fracture Syria and promised to protect its Druze minority on Thursday after U.S. intervention to help achieve a truce in fighting between government forces and Druze fighters.

Israel carried out several strikes on Wednesday in Damascus and on Syrian regime forces deployed to Druze areas of southern Syria, saying it sought to protect the Druze and keep the Syrian forces from militarizing areas near its border, and by Thursday Syrian forces had retreated, saying security would be left to Druze factions.

Israel increased its military presence along the Syrian border on Wednesday after violent clashes between Druze and Bedouin groups in southern Syria. The unrest, centered in the Sweida region, led the Syrian government to send in troops.

The longer al-Sharaa acts on big issues and Israel intervenes in questionable matters not clearly threatening Israeli interests, the faster Israel may lose the key cards it holds in Syria.

The mainly Druze residents of the Syrian city of Sweida had hoped the arrival of government forces on Tuesday would spell an end to deadly sectarian clashes with local Bedouin