Syria should not be allowed back into the international community unless it is able to uphold protections for the Druze and its other minority groups, Israel has said.

Syria has been wracked by a new wave of deadly sectarian violence that has placed the spotlight on the Druze minority at the center of rising tensions with Israel. Dozens of people were killed this week after clashes between government loyalists and Druze militias in the southern city of Suwayda,

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said on Friday that Israel and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire supported by Turkey, Jordan and neighbors. On Wednesday, Israel launched airstrikes in Damascus, while also hitting government forces in the south,