Fighting resumed in earnest in southern Syria after a massive army of Bedouin tribes launched a new offensive.

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.

Israel bombed the Syrian army headquarters in Damascus on Wednesday after warning the Islamist-led government to leave the Druze minority alone in its Sweida heartland, where a war monitor says sectarian clashes have killed nearly 250 people.

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