Syria's defense minister has announced a ceasefire just hours after government forces entered a key city in the volatile Sweida province.

Syria's defense minister announced a ceasefire shortly after government forces entered a key city in southern Sweida province on Tuesday, a day after sectarian clashes killed dozens there. Neighboring Israel again launched strikes on Syrian military forces,

Nearly 600 people have died in southern Syria amid recent violence between Bedouin and Druze communities in Suweida province, according to SOHR.

Clashes between Bedouin tribes, government forces and members of a minority sect in Syria have left dozens dead and once again raised fears of a breakdown in the country's fragile postwar order. The country is deeply divided as it tries to emerge from decades of dictatorship and nearly 14 years of civil war.

Israel launched several deadly airstrikes that targeted Syrian government forces in Sweida. The attack came as sectarian violence flared between Druse fighters and Bedouin tribal groups.

At least 18 members of Syria's security forces have been killed in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, the Defence Ministry said, after they deployed to quell deadly sectarian clashes that had resumed on Monday,

The conflict had drawn airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighboring Israel in defense of the Druze before a truce halted most of the fighting.