US envoy says Syria and Israel agree to ceasefire as Druze minority and Bedouin clans clash in Syria

MAZRAA, Syria (AP) — U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said early Saturday that Israel and Syria had agreed to a ceasefire following Israel’s intervention this week in fighting between Syrian government forces and rival armed groups.

The announcement came as renewed clashes erupted between Druze groups and Bedouin clans and Syria's president said he would send troops back in to quell the fighting, which has left tens of thousands of people displaced in a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Barrack said in a statement posted on social platform X that the new ceasefire between Israel and Syria was supported by Turkey, Jordan and other neighboring countries and called for “Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with its neighbors.”

He did not share any details on the agreement.

Clashes began Sunday between Druze militias and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes in Syria’s southern Sweida province. Government forces intervened, nominally to restore order, but ended up taking the Bedouins’ side against the Druze.

Israel intervened in defense of the Druze, launching dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government fighters and even striking the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters in central Damascus. The Druze form a substantial community in Israel, where they are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the Israeli military.

The fighting killed hundreds of people over four days, with allegations that Syrian government-affiliated fighters executed Druze civilians and looted and burned homes.

On Wednesday, the Syrian government reached a truce with Druze groups, mediated by the U.S., Turkey and Arab countries, and began withdrawing its forces from the province. Under the accord, Druze factions and clerics were to maintain the internal security in Sweida as government forces pulled out, Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa said Thursday.

By late Thursday, clashes were flaring again between the Druze and Bedouin groups in parts of Sweida province, and on Friday al-Sharaa said that the government would send in a “specialized force to break up clashes and resolve the conflict on the ground."

Officials had negotiated with Druze factions on an agreement to re-enter the area to impose stability and protect state institutions, according to two Syrian officials who spoke earlier Friday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. They said an agreement was reached, but later said the deployment was delayed, without giving an explanation.

State media reported that Druze militias had carried out revenge attacks against Bedouin communities, leading to a new wave of displacement.

The governor of neighboring Daraa province said in a statement that more than 1,000 families had been displaced to the area from Sweida as a result of “attacks on Bedouin tribes by outlaw groups.”

The volunteer group Syrian Civil Defense said Friday that the head of its center in Sweida city had been kidnapped by gunmen two days earlier while on his way to evacuate a U.N. team.

The official, Hamza al-Amarin, was driving a van with the insignia of the organization, known as the White Helmets, when he was stopped by militants, the statement said. A person who answered his phone on Thursday said he was safe, it added, but they have been unable to reach him.

The United Nations has been unable to bring in much-needed humanitarian and medical aid because of ongoing clashes.

The United Nations’ migration agency said Friday that nearly 80,000 people had been displaced altogether since clashes started on Sunday.

It also noted that essential services, including water and electricity, have collapsed in Sweida, telecommunications systems are widely disrupted, and health facilities in Sweida and Daraa are under severe strain.

Meanwhile “there are severe disruptions to supply routes, with insecurity and road closures blocking aid deliveries," Adam Abdelmoula, U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator in Syria, said in a statement Friday.

The World Health Organization was able to send trauma care supplies to Daraa province, but Sweida remains inaccessible, he said.

“Once conditions allow, we are planning to send a mission to assess needs and provide critical aid, in full coordination with authorities,” Abdelmoula said.

Bedouin groups and supporters arrived Friday from other areas of Syria to join the fight.

On the outskirts of Sweida, groups of them gathered in front of buildings that had been set ablaze. An armed man who gave his name only as Abu Mariam ("father of Mariam") said he had come from the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor to “support the oppressed.”

“We will not return to our homes until we crush Al-Hijri and his ilk," he said, referring to a prominent Druze leader opposed to the government in Damascus, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri. "We have nothing to do with civilians and innocent people as long as they stay in their homes."

The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.

While predominantly Druze, Sweida is also home to Bedouin tribes who are Sunni Muslim and have periodically clashed with the Druze over the years. The latest escalation began with members of a Bedouin tribe in Sweida setting up a checkpoint and attacking and robbing a Druze man, which triggered tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings.

Ahmed Aba Zeid, a Syrian researcher who has studied armed groups in southern Syria, said there is “no specific reason” for the historic tensions between the groups.

“All of Syria is full of social problems that have no reason,” he said.

In this case, however, “The state exploited the latest problem to try to change the situation in Sweida, and this only increased the scope of it,” he said.

In Israel, members of the Druze community had called for intervention to protect the Druze in Syria. But elsewhere in the region, Druze leaders have rejected Israeli intervention.

The spiritual leader of the Druze community in Lebanon, Sheikh Sami Abi al-Muna, said Friday at a gathering of Druze officials in Beirut that sectarian clashes in Syria “give an excuse for Israeli intervention and for blowing up the situation in the region.”

“We do not accept to request protection from Israel, which we believe is harmful to our history and identity,” he said.

Al-Muna called for all parties to adhere to the ceasefire agreement reached Wednesday and for a national dialogue to address the issues between different communities in Syria.

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Joumblatt, who had been one of the regional figures mediating the ceasefire reached Wednesday, at the same gathering called for the formation of an investigative committee to investigate violations against both Druze and Bedouins in Syria.

Sewell reported from Beirut.

Bedouin fighters stand on a pickup truck as they arrive at al-Dour village on the outskirts of Sweida city, during clashes between the Bedouin clans and Druze militias, southern Syria, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Walid Jumblatt, the political leader of Lebanon's minority Druze sect, attends a gathering of minority religious leaders in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, July 18, 2025 as they speak about sectarian clashes between Druze factions, Sunni Muslim Bedouin clans, and government forces in Syria. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Bedouin fighters deploy at Mazraa village on the outskirts of Sweida city, as smoke rise from the clashes between the Bedouin clans and Druze militias, southern Syria, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A Bedouin fighter flashes victory sign as he rides a motorcycle at Mazraa village on the outskirts of Sweida city, where clashes erupted between theBedouin clans and Druze militias, southern Syria, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Bedouin fighters gather in front a burned shop at Mazraa village on the outskirts of Sweida city, during clashes between the Bedouin clans and Druze militias, southern Syria, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Bedouin fighters stand in front a burned shop at Mazraa village on the outskirts of Sweida city, during clashes between the Bedouin clans and Druze militias, southern Syria, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Bedouin fighters on a road in Ezraa village on the outskirts of Daraa city, after clashes erupted between the beduin clans and Druze militias in Sweida province, southern Syria, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian government forces sit on their armored personnel carrier, as they withdraw from Sweida city, southern Syria, Tuesday, July 15, 2025.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

The Syrian Defense Ministry building sits heavily damaged after alleged Israeli airstrikes in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Druze clerics take part in a gathering of minority religious leaders in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, July 18, 2025, as they speak about sectarian clashes between Druze factions, Sunni Muslim Bedouin clans, and government forces in Syria. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A Bedouin fighter flashes victory sign and shouts slogans at Mazraa village on the outskirts of Sweida city, during clashes between the Bedouin clans and Druze militias, southern Syria, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Bedouin fighters ride motorcycles as they deploy at Mazraa village on the outskirts of Sweida city, during clashes between the Bedouin clans and Druze militias, southern Syria, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Bedouin fighters stand on a pickup truck as they arrive at al-Dour village on the outskirts of Sweida city, during clashes between the Bedouin clans and Druze militias, southern Syria, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Walid Jumblatt, the political leader of Lebanon's minority Druze sect, attends a gathering of minority religious leaders in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, July 18, 2025 as they speak about sectarian clashes between Druze factions, Sunni Muslim Bedouin clans, and government forces in Syria. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Bedouin fighters deploy at Mazraa village on the outskirts of Sweida city, as smoke rise from the clashes between the Bedouin clans and Druze militias, southern Syria, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A Bedouin fighter flashes victory sign as he rides a motorcycle at Mazraa village on the outskirts of Sweida city, where clashes erupted between theBedouin clans and Druze militias, southern Syria, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Bedouin fighters gather in front a burned shop at Mazraa village on the outskirts of Sweida city, during clashes between the Bedouin clans and Druze militias, southern Syria, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Bedouin fighters stand in front a burned shop at Mazraa village on the outskirts of Sweida city, during clashes between the Bedouin clans and Druze militias, southern Syria, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Bedouin fighters on a road in Ezraa village on the outskirts of Daraa city, after clashes erupted between the beduin clans and Druze militias in Sweida province, southern Syria, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian government forces sit on their armored personnel carrier, as they withdraw from Sweida city, southern Syria, Tuesday, July 15, 2025.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)