Sectarian clashes that shook southern Syria this week have killed hundreds of people, including civilians, and drawn in an array of local and international players.
The outbreak of violence underscored the new Syrian government's struggle to consolidate control over the country, months after longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad was ousted by Islamist-led rebels.
On Wednesday, Israel launched air strikes on Syria's capital, Damascus, while also hitting government forces in the south, in an operation it says was aimed at protecting a minority group caught up in the clashes.
A ceasefire mediated by the US, Türkiye and Arab countries mostly held on Thursday, though scattered violence was reported.
Syrian state media said Israel also carried out more strikes near the southern Sweida province.
Here's a closer look at the main parties in the bloody unrest and why Israel has gotten involved.
How did the fighting begin?
Syria has been deeply divided since the fall of the Assad regime in December, emerging from decades of dictatorship and nearly 14 years of civil war.
Many of the country's religious and ethnic communities are wary of Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who was formerly linked to the Al Qaeda terrorist group.
Although al-Sharaa has repeatedly vowed to protect minority groups, there have been several rounds of sectarian killings since Islamist rebels ousted al-Assad from power.
The latest escalation began on Sunday after members of an armed Bedouin tribe attacked and robbed a local Druze man, according the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
This led to tit-for-tat kidnappings and attacks between the Bedouin tribes and the Druze armed factions that controlled large parts of Syria's southern province, Sweida.
Syrian government forces intervened on Monday to restore order but were perceived by the Druze as taking the side of Bedouins, drawing them into further clashes with Druze militias.
At least 594 people have been killed in Sweida, according to the SOHR monitoring group.
Historically, a disagreement over the rightful successor to the Prophet Mohammed after his death in 632 AD led Muslims to be split into two main camps: Sunni and Shia.
Click on the cards below to read more on the sectarian groups and state forces involved in the recent clashes and how they're aligned.
Sunni: The Bedouins
Bedouins are nomadic Arab tribes, with the majority adhering to Sunni Islam.
In Syria, they are mostly distributed along the outskirts of the Sweida province, which is largely controlled by the Druze.
In 2000, unrest broke out after a Bedouin killed a Druze man in a land dispute. The former president's forces intervened, shooting Druze protesters.
After a 2018 Islamic State group attack on the Druze in Sweida that killed more than 200 people, the Druze accused the Bedouins of helping the militants.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, this week's clash began when members of one of the armed Bedouin tribes attacked and robbed a local Druze man.
The UK-based monitoring group expressed "deep concern" on Thursday for the displacement of Bedouin families after Druze gunmen besieged neighbourhoods inhabited by civilians.
At the same time, Bedouin fighters launched a new offensive in the Sweida province, a Bedouin military commander told Reuters, despite a truce having been announced the previous day.
The commander said the truce only applied to Syrian government forces and not to Bedouins.
He said the Bedouin fighters were seeking to free Bedouins who had been detained by Druze armed groups in recent days.
Shia offshoot: The Druze
The Druze are followers of a religion that is a 10th-century offshoot of a branch of Shia Islam.
They maintain a degree of secrecy about the practice of their faith, which emphasises monotheism, reincarnation and the pursuit of truth.
More than half of the world's 1 million Druze live in Syria, where they control large parts of the southern Sweida province.
Most of the other followers live in Lebanon and Israel, including the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 war.
Many Druze serve in the Israeli military, including during the war in Gaza, and some have reached a high rank, meaning their voices cannot be easily ignored by Israel's political leadership.
While most Druze in Israel identify as Israeli citizens, more than 20,000 living in the occupied Golan still identify as Syrians and have close ties to family on the other side of the border.
Facing calls from Israeli Druze to help Syrian Druze, Israeli leaders have cited protecting them as a reason for attacking Syria repeatedly this year.
During Syria's 14-year civil war, the Druze had their own militias, in part to defend against hardline Sunni Muslim militants who considered them heretics.
Until this week's clashes, the Druze were split between those who wanted to integrate with the new government and those seeking to maintain autonomy.
Reports of attacks on Druze civilians by government-affiliated forces since the latest round of fighting broke out have further alienated many Druze from the new authorities.
Sunni: Syrian government
Interim President al-Sharaa is the head of Syria's Islamist-led government.
He was once an Al Qaeda affiliate before cutting ties with the terrorist group in 2016 and spearheaded the anti-Assad charge in December.
Al-Sharaa's hopes of stitching Syria back together are complicated by the country's mix of sectarian and ethnic groups.
Sunni Muslims make up the majority of Syria's population of more than 20 million. Its religious minorities include Alawites, Christians, Druze and Shia Muslims.
While most Syrians are Arab, the country also has a sizeable ethnic Kurdish minority.
Since taking power, al-Sharaa has taken a more moderate tone, preaching coexistence and forming diplomatic ties with Western countries, including the US.
But in spite of its assurances, the Syrian government has faced suspicion from minority groups and there have been outbreaks of sectarian violence in recent months.
In Sweida this week, al-Sharaa's government forces intervened in the clashes between local Bedouin tribes and Druze militias, but ended up themselves clashing with the Druze.
Some government fighters reportedly killed Druze civilians and looted and burned houses.
But, in an address on Wednesday, al-Sharaa said protecting Druze citizens and their rights was "our priority" and rejected any attempt to drag them into the hands of an "external party".
He also vowed to hold to account those who committed violations against "our Druze people".
So, why is Israel striking Syria?
Israel claims to have launched the attacks to protect Syria's Druze, who Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as "brothers".
The Druze also have a substantial community in Israel and are seen as a loyal minority, often serving in the military.
Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes on forces and weapons in the Sweida area because the Syrian government "intended to use them against the Druze".
Israel also struck the headquarters of the Syrian Ministry of Defense in the heart of Damascus.
Heidi Prett, a freelance journalist based in Damascus, said both the Israeli and Syrian governments had "taken advantage" of sectarian tensions to advance their own agendas.
"For [the Syrian government], it was an opportunity to establish control over another part of the country," she said.
"For the Israelis … it provides an opportunity to weaken and destabilise the Syrian government despite the fact it has indicated some willingness and openness to normalising relations with Israel.
"The Israeli government really appears to be doing everything it can to undermine that relationship right now."
Joshua Landis, the co-director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, said Israel did not trust Syria's interim president.
"Israel wants to keep Syria weak and divided," he said.
"Israel has complete air dominance over Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and now Iran as well. It does not want to see a powerful Syria emerge as an ally of Türkiye and a potential enemy on its border."
Do the Druze want Israel to step in?
"They are happy to have Israel at their back, but the problem is, Israel is not really going to move its troops up and protect them," Landis said.
The Syria specialist said there was deep mistrust of the new Syrian government among the Druze minority group.
"The Druze community is very frightened because in the past, al-Sharaa really mistreated the Druze," he said.
In sectarian violence in Syria's coastal region in March, hundreds of people from the Alawite minority were killed by forces aligned to al-Sharaa.
"[The Druze] threw out Assad's forces and they've been ruling their own area as an autonomous region for over a year," Landis said.
"They don't trust the troops, particularly because in March they massacred [the Alawites]."
Spokespeople for Syria's interior and defence ministries did not immediately respond to media questions on whether government forces were responsible for some of the Druze killings in Sweida this week.
Still, some Druze activists in the Israeli-occupied Golan told the ABC they questioned the reasons for Israel's intervention in the conflict, saying it was motivated by "hegemony" in the region.
Syrian President al-Sharaa accused Israel of using sectarian violence as a pretext to "dismantle the unity of our people".
He said Israel had "consistently targeted our stability and created discord among us since the fall of the former regime".
How is the world reacting to the Israeli strikes?
The United States condemned the violence in Syria and said it was actively engaging all parties there to de-escalate the situation.
"The United States did not support recent Israeli strikes," said Tammy Bruce, the US State Department spokesperson.
"We are engaging diplomatically with Israel and Syria at the highest levels, both to address the present crisis and reach a lasting agreement between the two sovereign states.
"We've been very clear about our displeasure, certainly the president has, and we've worked very quickly to have it stopped."
Türkiye, an ally of both the US and Syrian governments, was also part of the mediation efforts over the Sweida violence.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said there had been an attempt to "sabotage the ceasefire that was achieved [on Thursday] with the contributions of our country".
He said Israel had shown once again that it did not want peace or stability in the region.
"Israel, using the Druze as an excuse, has expanded its banditry to Syria," he said.
Ten Arab countries joined Türkiye in reaffirming support for Syria's security and stability: Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon and Egypt.
They rejected all foreign interference in Syria's affairs.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council met on Thursday to discuss the Israeli strikes.
Russia's UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said "external or internal players" could not be allowed to exploit a fragile situation in Syria by "fermenting ethnic and religious tension".
Netanyahu has reiterated Israel's policy to protect the Druze.
He said the Syrian government had sent "its army south of Damascus into an area that was supposed to remain demilitarised, and it began massacring Druze".
"This was something we could not accept in any way," Netanyahu said, adding: "It is a ceasefire achieved through strength."
