Members of Syria's Druze community are searching for loved ones and counting their dead after days of clashes in a southern province that left bloodied bodies of civilians on the streets and homes loo

After five days of hunkering down at his home in the southern city of Sweida, 33-year-old Hossam emerged on Thursday and drove around to survey the damage. Wherever he went, the smell of death lingered.

Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa accused Israel of trying to fracture Syria and promised to protect its Druze minority on Thursday, after U.S. intervention helped end deadly fighting between government forces and Druze fighters in the south.

Sharaa accused Israel on Thursday of sowing discord with a wave of airstrikes following deadly clashes with the Druze community.

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.

Syria has announced an ”immediate and complete halt” to its offensive against the Druze minority, after Israel attacked key symbols of power in Damascus. The Syrian government said it had agreed to the ceasefire with some but not all representatives of the Druze community,

Syria has accused Israel of sowing chaos following its airstrikes on the Druze-majority province of Sweida where violent clashes have left hundreds dead. FRANCE 24's Israel correspondent Noga Tarnopolsky has more.