Jihadist-turned-President Ahmed al-Sharaa wants to unify Syria after its 14-year civil war. But domestic and external pressures pose a significant challenge

Syria should not be allowed back into the international community unless it is able to uphold protections for the Druze and its other minority groups, Israel has said.

Israel has struck military tanks in southern Syria, where government forces and Bedouin tribes clash with Druze militias.

Secretary of State Rubio says the U.S. is "very concerned" by expanding Israeli strikes targeting Syria's new government, and he wants "the fighting to stop."

BEIRUT (AP) — A U.S. envoy doubled down on Washington’s support for Syria’s new government, saying Monday there is “no Plan B” to working with it to unite the country still reeling from years of civil war and wracked by new sectarian violence.

The United States said it did not support recent Israeli strikes on Syria and had made clear its displeasure, while Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa accused Israel of trying to fracture his country.

Israel has threatened to increase its involvement in Syria and vowed to protect the Druze religious minority, which began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam, the Associated Press reported. Most of the world’s Druze population lives in Syria, with the rest predominantly in Israel and Lebanon.

STORY: Violence in southern Syria has put a spotlight on a small but influential minority, the Druze.:: Who are the Druze?The Druze are Arabs who follow a religion derived from a branch of Islam.They maintain a degree of secrecy about the practice of their faith that emerged in the 11th century.

Hundreds of Druze from Israel pushed across the border in solidarity with their Syrian cousins they feared were under attack. Many then met relatives they had never seen before.

Syria's new government sent troops to quell fighting between the Druze religious minority and Sunni Muslim tribes. Then Israel intervened, bombing Damascus.