Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa's government responded by deploying forces to the city. Druze residents of Suweida told the BBC they had witnessed "barbaric acts" as gunmen - government forces and foreign fighters - attacked people. Israel targeted these forces, saying they were acting to protect the Druze.

Recent violence in Syria’s southern Suwayda province has brought renewed global attention to the Druze and Bedouin communities, who have a history of coexistence and conflict spanning centuries - Anad