Syria’s military entered a stronghold for the Druze minority in the country’s south on Tuesday to “pursue outlaw groups,” the government said, prompting Israel to launch strikes against the forces dispatched by Damascus.

Israel carried out strikes against Syrian government forces in southwestern Syria for a second day on Tuesday, vowing to keep the area demilitarized and to protect the Druze minority as deadly clashes continued in the region at the Israeli frontier.

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.