Thousands went missing during Syria’s decades-long intervention in Lebanon. Months after the fall of the Syrian regime, families are still clinging to hope.

Israel is the primary beneficiary of what’s happening in Suwayda. It is using the security vacuum to incite divisions and push some communities toward seeking protection,’ Sheikh Sami Abil-Mona tells

Historically, the Druze are an Arabic-speaking ethno-religious minority who are spread across Syria, Lebanon, Israel and the occupied Golan Heights. The Druze faith is an esoteric offshoot of Shia Islam with a distinct set of beliefs and practices.

Israel launched rare strikes in Damascus on Wednesday in a campaign it said was aimed at defending the Druze community after days of clashes in the southern city of Sweida.

Lebanon is seeking a treaty that would see most Syrian prisoners serve the rest of their sentence in their homeland in a bid to ease severe overcrowding in Lebanese jails. At Lebanon's largest jail of Roumieh,

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

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Thursday that protecting the Druze citizens and their rights is "our priority", as Israel vowed to destroy Syrian government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria.