Syria’s defense minister has announced a ceasefire after government forces entered a key city in Sweida province on Tuesday.

Sectarian violence erupted again in southern Syria as local Sunni Bedouin tribes fought armed factions for the Druze religious community. The Syrian government dispatched troops to restore order, and Israel launched airstrikes to protect the Druze.

Dozens of wounded and dead arrived at a hospital in Al-Mazraa in Syria's southern Sweida province on Tuesday following clashes between local militias, clans and government forces.

Loud gunfire and smoke were seen and heard over Sweida in southern Syria on Tuesday, after the defence minister announced a ceasefire following the entry of government forces into a key city in the province.

Meanwhile, Israel launched strikes on southern Syria, claiming the goal was to protect the Druze community. Below, you'll find a roundup of the latest developments about Israel, the war in Gaza, and the wider Middle East on Tuesday,

This matters because if ISIS is on the rise in parts of Syria, then it will require coordination between Damascus and the SDF. The SDF controls a third of Syria.

The mainly Druze residents of the Syrian city of Sweida had hoped the arrival of government forces on Tuesday would spell an end to deadly sectarian clashes with local Bedouin tribes.