Sky News' special correspondent Alex Crawford is in southern Syria, where the government says escalating violence has been halted and a fragile ceasefire between rival factions is in place. Follow below for the latest updates.

More than a thousand people are believed to have been killed in a week of fighting in Syria 's Sweida, even as an uneasy truce reigned across the governorate on Sunday. Humanitarian convoys were readying to enter Sweida to ease the impact of days of sectarian violence that broke out last weekend between Syrian Bedouin, Druze and government forces.

That understanding was based on comments from the U.S. special envoy and security talks with Israel, sources said.

Father Tony Boutros is a Catholic priest in Sweida, southern Syria. He is no stranger to ethnic unrest; in 2015, he was kidnapped during a spate of abductions of Christians in the country.

Spread across Syria, Lebanon and Israel, the secretive religious minority has long balanced integration and independence. Now, members are at the heart of the region’s shifting power struggles.

Syria's Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence triggered by clashes between Bedouin fighters and Druze factions. Earlier on Friday, an Israeli official said Israel agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to the Sweida area of southern Syria for the next two days.

In southern Syria, the government has deployed security forces and pleaded for all sides to stick to a ceasefire after sectarian clashes this week. Despite this, fighting between Druze groups and Arab fighters and Bedouin tribes continues.

This week saw the announcement of a potential Saudi-backed investment in Elon Musk’s xAI, new Bahrain-US deals and DP World’s interest in Syria’s Port of Tartus.

Israel launched rare strikes in Damascus on Wednesday in a campaign it said was aimed at defending the Druze community after days of clashes in the southern city of Sweida.

A video clip circulating on social media in recent months shows Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Shara, astride a handsome black horse in a sand riding ring with a few thick palm trees. He is alone, wearing a trim leather jacket, as the high-stepping horse circles within the ring.

At the center of a crisis in Syria are the Druze — a secretive religious minority that long carved out a precarious identity across Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

Despite a ceasefire agreement, fighting involving the government, Bedouin clans and Druze fighters spiraled on Friday.