Dr Talat Amer, a surgeon at Sweida National Hospital in southern Syria, worked tirelessly for three days as bombs fell and the building came under siege from government and militia forces.

Scores of people have been killed in Syria's southern governorate of Suwayda after clashes began between local Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze armed factions. A ceasefire agreement was announced Wednesday after neighbouring Israel launched strikes on Syrian military forces,

"Now is the time for the Syrian government to turn their words into real actions if they want to maintain legitimacy: restore order, protect all of its citizens," Hamadeh says

Syrian government forces had largely pulled out of the Druze-majority southern province of Sweida after days of clashes with militias linked to the Druze religious minority that threatened to unravel the country’s fragile post-war transition.

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.

Hundreds of Druze from Israel pushed across the border in solidarity with their Syrian cousins they feared were under attack. Many then met relatives they had never seen before.

As a fragile ceasefire holds in southern Syria following deadly clashes, a Syrian Druze writer in exile Sarah Hunaidi tells CNN it’s a “horrible situation” on the ground, as food supplies run low and hospitals remain out of service.

At the center of a crisis in Syria are the Druze — a secretive religious minority that long carved out a precarious identity across Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

Tom Barrack, who is the US ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria and is aiding ceasefire talks, said the deal had the backing of Turkey, a key supporter of Syria’s interim president, as well as neighbouring Jordan.