The fighting, which started with clashes between Druze and Bedouin militias in the city of Sweida and drew in Sunni tribesmen and Israel, is among the deadliest since the fall of former dictator Bashar al-Assad in December.

Thousands went missing during Syria’s decades-long intervention in Lebanon. Months after the fall of the Syrian regime, families are still clinging to hope.

Republican congressman and Israel caucus co-chair Joe Wilson rebukes Israeli military strikes on Syria, calling them insulting to Trump's recent diplomatic efforts in the region.

Sectarian-tinged clashes left hundreds dead and attracted Israeli military intervention. A U.S. envoy said Israel and Syria had agreed to a truce.

"If Israel feels that a certain leader...is an evident threat to its national security, it will operate," a former Israeli envoy told Newsweek.

Violence between government forces and armed factions of a religious minority in southern Syria has deepened divisions in a country still recuperating from a civil war.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a phone call that the conflict in Syria needs to end immediately, a Turkish foreign ministry source said on Saturday.