The Syrian government says clashes in the southern city of Suwayda have stopped after a week of violence left hundreds of people dead, drawing Israeli intervention and US condemnation.

Syrian government forces have started withdrawing from the southern province of Sweida following days of vicious clashes with militias from the Druze minority.

A Syrian military official said correspondence with the US had led Damascus to believe it could deploy forces to Sweida without Israel confronting them. The Syrian presidency announced on Saturday an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire following days of bloodshed in the predominantly Druze area that has left over 300 people dead.

The interior ministry said clashes in Sweida city had been halted and the area cleared of Bedouin tribal fighters following the deployment.

Syria should not be allowed back into the international community unless it is able to uphold protections for the Druze and its other minority groups, Israel has said.

Syria's armed Bedouin clans on Sunday announced that they had withdrawn from Sweida following over a week of clashes and a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, as humanitarian aid convoys started to enter the battered southern city.

Israeli leaders said they launched attacks on Syria this week to protect members of the Druze religious group in the country’s south, amid clashes in the area.

MAZRAA, Syria — Syrian government forces prepared to return to a southern region Friday after renewed clashes broke out between Druze armed groups and members of Bedouin clans, leaving tens of thousands of people displaced in a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Badly needed humanitarian supplies started to reach Syria's Druze-majority Sweida province on Sunday, a day after a ceasefire was announced following a week of sectarian fighting that left hundreds dead,

Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has urged Sunni Bedouin tribes to honor a ceasefire aimed at ending deadly clashes with Druze-linked militias