Syria’s president declared a ceasefire after nearly a week of sectarian bloodshed in the south, but civilians said there was no let-up in the violence.

A ceasefire was enforced in Sweida, Syria, where clashes between Druze community members and Bedouin tribes had persisted for nearly a week. Syrian security forces intervened, leading to the halt of hostilities and clearing the area of tribal fighters.

Syrian interior ministry forces began deploying in Sweida on Saturday under a US-brokered deal intended to avert further Israeli military intervention in the Druze-majority province.Israel had bombed defence ministry forces in both Sweida and Damascus earlier this week to force their withdrawal after they were accused of summary executions and other abuses against Druze civilians during their brief deployment in the southern province.

Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa urged Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes Saturday to “fully commit” to a ceasefire aimed at ending clashes with militias linked to the Druze minority that left hundreds dead and threatened to unravel the country’s post-war transition.

The conflict drew airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighboring Israel in defense of the Druze minority before most of the fighting was halted by a truce announced Wednesday.

Dozens of Syrians from minority communities rallied on Saturday in London and Paris, calling for action to protect the Druze in their Sweida heartland, where sectarian violence has killed hundreds.In central London,

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.

The United Nations refugee agency expressed concern on Friday about the impact of hostilities in Syria's southern city of Sweida on its aid operations, and urged all sides to allow more humanitarian access.

In the last barely-functional hospital in Sweida, bodies are overflowing from the morgue, staff said, amid violence that has wracked the Druze-majority southern Syrian city for nearly a week."There's no more space in the morgue,