U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the situation as "complicated" but said it looked like a "misunderstanding".

In Syria's Druze-majority city of Sweida, residents said they have been living in terror since the arrival of government forces who have been carrying out what witnesses and a war monitor have called summary executions.

Israel bombed the Syrian army headquarters in Damascus on Wednesday after warning the Islamist-led government to leave the Druze minority alone in its Sweida heartland, where a war monitor says sectarian clashes have killed nearly 250 people.

Most of the dead are fighters, but they also include 40 civilians, 27 of them summarily executed by security force personnel, says war monitor.

Israeli officials react to the ongoing violence in Syria's Sweida between regime forces and the local Druze community.

The Syrian government deployed its forces in the Druze-majority city of Sweida, in a bid by the Islamist authorities to extend their power to the area controlled by local armed groups.

Syria's defense minister has announced a ceasefire just hours after government forces entered a key city in the volatile Sweida province. Tuesday's announcement follows deadly sectarian clashes betwee