Syria's interior ministry spokesperson said on Friday that government forces were not preparing to deploy to Sweida Province, the state news agency reported.

A ceasefire went into effect late Wednesday, easing days of brutal clashes in Sweida. Now, members of its Druze community who fled or went into hiding are returning to search for loved ones and count their losses. They are finding homes looted and bloodied bodies of civilians in the streets.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported "clashes west of Sweida pitting tribal fighters and Bedouin supported by the authorities on one side, against Druze fighters on the other". Combatants on both sides confirmed the clashes and AFP correspondents reported hearing exchanges of fire.

Syrian government forces have started withdrawing from the southern province of Sweida following days of vicious clashes with militias from the Druze minority.

Israel announced that a ceasefire had been reached in the area, and that the Syrian forces were expected to withdraw from areas with Druze populations.

Despite reports indicating the strike was carried out by Israel, Channel 12 reported that the Israeli military had not conducted the strikes. Israel carried out an airstrike in the vicinity of Syria's Sweida,

Fresh clashes broke out overnight between the Druze minority armed groups and members of Bedouin clans in southern Syria, prompting government forces to deploy again to the area on Friday after pulling out under a ceasefire agreement that halted several days of violence earlier this week,