However, Israel has shown little appetite for compromise with al-Sharaa’s administration, despite several rounds of Azerbaijan-hosted talks arranged by the US since April – mo

Israel threatened to escalate attacks on Syrian government forces unless they withdrew from Sweida, a southern province dominated by the country’s Druse minority.

US secretary of state says clashes in Druze-majority area of Sweida led to 'misunderstanding' between Israel and Sharaa regime; UN, EU and others demand end to Israeli strikes

The United States has reportedly asked Israel to cease bombing the Syrian capital of Damascus as Tel Aviv claims to defend the Druze minority from sectarian violence, a senior defense official told Axios Wednesday.

Israel has struck the headquarters of the Syrian Ministry of Defence and close to the presidential palace in the capital Damascus, dramatically escalating on another military front in the region, and following through on its threats to intervene over clashes between government troops and Druze fighters in the southern Syrian city of Suwayda.

Syria announced that its army had begun to withdraw from violence-hit Sweida on Wednesday, following a wave of Israeli strikes on the capital and a US call for government forces to leave the majority-Druze southern city.

Amidst renewed Middle East peace doubts and escalating violence in Syria, President Trump welcomed Bahrain's Crown Prince and Qatar's Prime Minister t

Thomas J. Barrack Jr., the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, says Washington is facilitating the discussions and prioritizing economic development over nation-building in the Middle East.

The Druze, a minority group in Syria, are at the heart of escalating tensions with Israel, prompting Israeli airstrikes to safeguard them.

Syrian troops are trying to intervene in sectarian violence in the south between the Druze minority and Bedouins.