A walk through the Rachaiya market revealed a town in quiet mourning, as shops shuttered their doors in solidarity with victims of the recent violence in Sweida—part of a broader call from local religious leaders across the district.

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.

Over 500 people people have been killed in southern Syria’s Sweida province, a war monitor said Thursday, giving an updated toll after several days of clashes that triggered the deployment of government forces.

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.

At least 203 people have been killed in sectarian fighting involving Sunni tribes, Druze militias and Syrian troops in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida since Sunday, a war monitor said

Israel says it is intervening to protect Syria’s Druze residents who have strong ties to Israel’s Druze community. Damascus called the attack a violation of sovereignty.

Sectarian clashes have reignited in Syria, primarily between the government and Druze fighters. The conflict has drawn Israeli intervention and escalated fears of ethnic violence. Syria's postwar dynamics are fragile,

The sectarian violence between Bedouin groups and militias from the Druse religious minority killed more than 50 people, according to a local health official and a monitoring group.