Residents reported calm in the Syrian city of Sweida on Sunday after the Islamist-led government declared that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and the United States stepped up calls for an end to fighting.

A week after deadly clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters in the southern Syrian city of Sweida, Syrian Red Crescent convoys drove on Sunday along the Damascus-Daraa highway to provide humanitarian assistance to citizens stranded in villages under attack.

Syria’s president declared a ceasefire after nearly a week of sectarian bloodshed in the south, but civilians said there was no let-up in the violence.

The conflict drew airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighboring Israel in defense of the Druze minority before most of the fighting was halted by a truce announced Wednesday.

Syria’s Minister of Information said Saturday that the first phase of a ceasefire between Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze-linked militias in Sweida will be in effect for the next 48 hours.

Syrian interior ministry forces began deploying in Sweida on Saturday under a US-brokered deal intended to avert further Israeli military intervention in the Druze-majority province.Israel had bombed defence ministry forces in both Sweida and Damascus earlier this week to force their withdrawal after they were accused of summary executions and other abuses against Druze civilians during their brief deployment in the southern province.

Syrian government forces had largely pulled out of the Druze-majority southern province of Sweida after days of clashes with militias linked to the Druze religious minority that threatened to unravel the country’s fragile post-war transition.

More than 1,000 dead following week of violence in Druze-majority city that saw Israel strike regime forces in effort to aid locals

Residents from the Syrian-Druze city of Sweida described friends and neighbors being shot at close range in their homes or on the streets. One elderly man had been shot in the head in his living room.

The clashes between militias of the Druze religious minority and Sunni Muslim groups killed hundreds and threatened to unravel Syria's fragile postwar transition.