Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Thursday that protecting the Druze citizens and their rights is "our priority", as Israel vowed to destroy Syrian government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria.

The White House is attributing the outbreak of violence in the Middle East between the Syrian government and Israel to a "misunderstanding" over ethnic grudges.

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.

Israeli officials react to the ongoing violence in Syria's Sweida between regime forces and the local Druze community. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Israeli Druze citizens not to cross the border amid ongoing clashes in Sweida in southern Syria on Wednesday afternoon.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the Damascus headquarters served as a command center for deploying regime forces to Suwayda, a southern Syrian region gripped by days of deadly clashes between government troops, Druze militias, and Bedouin groups.

As of Wednesday morning, clashes between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters resumed just hours after a ceasefire was announced.

Syrian officials and Druze leaders announce new ceasefire after days of fighting, following breakdown of previous truce.