Deadly sectarian clashes in Syria eased on Thursday, after a ceasefire was announced between groups fighting in the Druze-majority southern province and Israel signaled air strikes over recent days were suspended.

Clashes between Bedouin tribes, government forces and members of a minority sect in Syria have left dozens dead and once again raised fears of a breakdown in the country's fragile postwar order. The country is deeply divided as it tries to emerge from decades of dictatorship and nearly 14 years of civil war.