Defense Minister Katz responds that Ambassador Tom Barrack doesn't know the facts, after he complained that strikes to protect Druze complicated efforts for regional stability

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Religious minorities in Syria face persecution under the new Islamist government, highlighting the critical importance of religious liberty as the foundation for all other freedoms

The Syrian government says clashes in the southern city of Suwayda have stopped after a week of violence left hundreds of people dead, drawing Israeli intervention and US condemnation.

DAMASCUS, July 20 (Reuters) - Residents reported calm in Syria's Sweida on Sunday after the Islamist-led government announced that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and the United States stepped up calls for an end to days of fighting.

Government forces that were initially sent to restore order but effectively sided with the Bedouins against the Druze were redeployed to halt renewed fighting that erupted Thursday in the southern province of Sweida. The violence also drew airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighboring Israel before a truce was reached.

Armed Bedouin clans in Syria have withdrawn from the southern city of Sweida after over a week of deadly clashes.

The clashes between militias of the Druze religious minority and Sunni Muslim groups killed hundreds and threatened to unravel Syria's fragile postwar transition.

Syria's Islamist-led government said its security forces were deploying in the predominantly Druze southern city of Sweida on Saturday and urged all parties to respect a ceasefire after days of factional bloodshed that has left hundreds dead.