The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, said the clashes started after members of a Bedouin tribe in Sweida province set up a checkpoint where they attacked and robbed a Druze man, leading to tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings between the tribes and Druze armed groups.

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa vows that security responsibility in Sweida will be returned to "local factions and religious elders" after deadly sectarian violence in the southern province.

Israel says it is intervening to protect Syria’s Druze residents who have strong ties to Israel’s Druze community. Damascus called the attack a violation of sovereignty.

The violence underscores the government’s challenge to assert nationwide control as ethnic and religious tensions simmer after the end of the civil war.

Over 500 people people have been killed in southern Syria's Sweida province, a war monitor said Thursday, giving an updated toll after several days of clashes that triggered the deployment of government forces.