U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack says that Israel and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire following Israel’s intervention this week in fighting between Syrian government forces and .

Violence in Syria's Druze province has triggered Israeli military action, complicating relations with Turkey and creating a power vacuum that Iran could exploit.

A massacre perpetrated on July 13, in which hundreds of Druze Syrians were reportedly murdered, has shaken Majdal Shams, a picturesque town that’s home to most of the Golan’s 20,000-odd Druze residents, many of whom have relatives across the border.

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.

The White House is attributing the outbreak of violence in the Middle East between the Syrian government and Israel to a "misunderstanding" over ethnic grudges.

By Thursday, nearly 600 people were reported killed, including dozens of civilians and hundreds of fighters from all sides, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

Republican congressman and Israel caucus co-chair Joe Wilson rebukes Israeli military strikes on Syria, calling them insulting to Trump's recent diplomatic efforts in the region.