Syria’s military entered a stronghold for the Druze community in the country’s south on Tuesday, the government said, reigniting fears of attacks against minorities and triggering renewed Israeli strikes on the forces dispatched by Damascus.

Syrian authorities were accused on Tuesday of carrying out "field executions" of civilians in the predominantly Druze province of Sweida, where Israel launched strikes against government forces in what it described as an effort to protect the religious minority.

BUSRA AL-HARIR, Syria (AP) — Israel’s army said Monday it has struck military tanks in southern Syria, where government forces and Bedouin tribes clashed with Druze militias.