Under Israeli bombardment and diplomatic pressure, Ahmed al-Sharaa pulled troops from Syria's Druze heartland -- a move that exposes the interim leader's weakness just as he sought to assert control.Since seizing office in December after ousting longtime autocrat Bashar al-Assad,

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a Syrian truce deal with Druze militants, a secret British relocation scheme for Afghans, and a deadly stampede at a Gaza food distribution site.

Clashes have erupted again between Druze militias and Bedouin clans in southern Syria. Government forces withdrew from the area earlier this week under a U.S.

A Syrian Druze woman living in the United Arab Emirates frantically tried to keep in touch with her family in her hometown in southern Syria as clashes raged there over the past days.

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.

A series of airstrikes has hit the Syrian capital Damascus, with Syrian state media blaming Israel. One video from a Syrian television channel shows the Ministry of Defense building being hit live on air, forcing the anchor to take cover. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz shared the footage, saying “the painful blows have begun.”

Syria completely reopened its airspace on June 24, its civil air authority said. Damascus Airport's two runways were damaged during the civil war but have since been repaired. The airport was also looted during the chaos of Assad's fall.

Open-source intelligence analysts reported that a mass mobilization was declared in all of Syria's governorates despite the ceasefire.