Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Saturday pledged protection for minorities in the country shortly after his administration announced a "comprehensive and immediate" ceasefire in the embattled province of Sweida following days of deadly sectarian violence there.

The move comes after days of clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters in Suweida that have reportedly left hundreds dead.

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.

Sectarian violence erupted again in southern Syria as local Sunni Bedouin tribes fought armed factions for the Druze religious community. The Syrian government dispatched troops to restore order, and Israel launched airstrikes to protect the Druze.

As alarming sectarian violence swept through Syria in the third week of July, Christian communities in the region experienced a new wave of persecution. Attacks on the country's Christian, Druze and Alawite communities were perpetrated mainly by Islamist jihadists.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, said the clashes started after members of a Bedouin tribe in Sweida province set up a checkpoint where they attacked and robbed a Druze man, leading to tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings between the tribes and Druze armed groups.

Amid violent clashes in southern Syria’s Sweida governorate, a picture of grave human rights abuses and rising humanitarian needs is emerging by the hour, the UN said on Friday.