Violence in Syria's Druze province has triggered Israeli military action, complicating relations with Turkey and creating a power vacuum that Iran could exploit.

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.

The Syrian government announced a ceasefire Tuesday after it intervened to quell the deadliest outburst of sectarian violence since March, clashes that prompted Israeli airstrikes. The ceasefire, however,

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.

Israel launched rare strikes in Damascus on Wednesday in a campaign it said was aimed at defending the Druze community after days of clashes in the southern city of Sweida.

Israel launched targeted airstrikes in Syria’s Suwayda region amid escalating clashes involving Druze militias and Syrian forces. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the strikes as both a strategic move and a moral obligation to protect the Druze community.

Syria says it is withdrawing troops from a flashpoint southern city after days of deadly clashes with an Arab minority group that triggered military action from Israel.

Israel bombed the Syrian army headquarters in Damascus on Wednesday after warning the Islamist-led government to leave the Druze minority alone in its Sweida heartland, where a war monitor says sectarian clashes have killed nearly 250 people.