Syria's government says its security forces are deploying in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida amid a fragile ceasefire after sectarian clashes. Follow below for the latest updates.

The government announcement came hours after a top U.S. envoy to the region said that the country and Israel had agreed to a truce after sectarian-tinged clashes had left hundreds dead.

Syrian security forces are beginning to move into the restive province of Suwayda after days of communal fighting in which hundreds of people have been killed,the country’s interior ministry says.

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.

Syrian Bedouin and their allies fought Druze fighters in the community's Sweida heartland for a seventh day Saturday despite a ceasefire ordered by the government following a US-brokered deal to avert further Israeli military intervention.

Recent violence in Syria, which reignited sectarian tensions, now risks derailing fragile alliances with Israel, while possibly reshaping the country's ties with Turkey and its minorities.

Clan fighters gathered in the Syrian capital Damascus on Saturday to support Bedouin militants in their clashes with Druze armed factions in the southern province of Sweida despite calls for a ceasefire.