Syria says it is withdrawing troops from a flashpoint southern city after days of deadly clashes with an Arab minority group that triggered military action from Israel.

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.

Israel carried out a series of powerful strikes on the Syrian capital Damascus Wednesday, escalating a campaign it says is in support of an Arab minority group involved in deadly clashes with Syrian government forces.

Army says there were no further crossings overnight, is working to patch up holes in fence; Kurdish official urges Sharaa to rethink approach to minorities

Syria announced that its army had begun to withdraw from violence-hit Sweida on Wednesday, following a wave of Israeli strikes on the capital and a US call for government forces to leave the majority-Druze southern city.

And Israeli-backed American organization in Gaza says 20 Palestinians died in a stampede at a food distribution center.

Israel has been bombing Syrian government forces who intervened in clashes in a region controlled by the Syrian Druse minority, which Israel pledged to protect.

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.

Syria’s Defense Ministry blamed militias in Sweida for violating a cease-fire agreement that had been reached Tuesday, causing Syrian army soldiers to return fire and continue military operations in the Druze-majority province.