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

After days of bloodshed in Syria's Druze city of Sweida, survivors emerged on Thursday to collect and bury the scores of dead found across the city. A ceasefire overnight brought an end to ferocious fighting between Druze militia and government forces sent to the city to quell clashes between Druze and Bedouin fighters.

Hundreds of Druze from Israel pushed across the border in solidarity with their Syrian cousins they feared were under attack. Many then met relatives never seen before.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Syria’s Druze on Thursday called for the opening of a route to connect them with the Kurdish administration in northeast Syria (Rojava), as recent attacks by Damascus-affiliated forces on the religious minority in Suwayda have triggered a dire humanitarian

He credited the United States, the Gulf States, and Turkey for mediating a ceasefire. The Syrian president then attempted to spin the Syrian withdrawal as planned, saying, “We are assigning local factions and tribal leaders the responsibility of maintaining security in Suwayda … based on the supreme national interest.”

Israeli Druze breached the Israel-Syria border fence in the Golan Heights and walked towards Syria on July 16after local calls to help Druze in Syria after a surge in violence in the neighbouring country.

In Syria's Druze-majority city of Sweida, residents said they have been living in terror since the arrival of government forces who have been carrying out what witnesses and a war monitor have called summary executions.