Storyline: De-escalation in Sweida is urgently needed to prevent the risk of dragging Syria into an unbalanced conflict with Israel and pushing the country toward chaos, a political analyst warned on Thursday. The death toll from this week's deadly clashes in southern Syria's Sweida province has risen to nearly 600, as tensions continued Thursday amid an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Sweida, state-run media and a war monitor reported. According to Syria's official news agency SANA, an Israeli warplane launched a new air raid targeting the vicinity of Sweida city, a day after Israeli strikes hit military and symbolic state sites in Damascus. In a statement on Thursday night, the Syrian interim authorities said the military had withdrawn from Sweida in response to a U.S.-Arab mediation effort aimed at de-escalating the deadly violence, but accused local armed factions of violating the ceasefire and committing "horrific crimes" against civilians. Despite the withdrawal of interim government forces by dawn Thursday, conditions on the ground remain volatile, with mass displacement and fears of renewed Israeli airstrikes compounding the already dire humanitarian situation. Additionally, Arab tribes from Deir al-Zour province and northern Syria, as well as interim government loyalists from Idlib, were said to have been mobilizing to aid the Bedouins in Sweida, adding to the intensity of the situation in southern Syria. Syrian interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa on Thursday accused the "Israeli entity" of consistently targeting Syrian stability and seeking to incite internal conflict since the fall of the former Syrian government. He charged that Israel aims to turn Syria into a permanent battlefield, weaken its national cohesion, and obstruct its reconstruction process. An escalation in Sweida began Sunday after armed members of a Bedouin tribe in the countryside of Sweida, a predominantly Druze province, reportedly assaulted and robbed a young Druze man near the town of al-Masmiyah, along the Damascus-Sweida highway. The brutal attack sparked retaliatory kidnappings, spiraling into full-scale clashes between local Druze fighters, government troops, and Bedouin militias. On Monday and Wednesday, Israel launched waves of strikes on Damascus and Sweida, claiming to prevent the Druze minority from being harmed. The attacks have met with strong condemnation from the international community. Hours after the Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday, a fragile ceasefire between Syria's interim government and Druze spiritual leaders entered into effect. Shotlist: Damascus, Syria - July 16, 2025: 1. Smoke rising near Syrian presidential palace after Israeli strikes 2. Various of smoke rising after Israeli strikes, buildings, traffic Damascus, Syria - July 17, 2025: 3. Traffic 4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Majed Mkheiber, political analyst (partially overlaid with shot 5): "The de-escalation in Sweida is highly needed at the moment. If the ceasefire doesn't hold, then Syria will be dragged into an unbalanced conflict with Israel. At the same time, such conflicts with a minority will encourage other minorities across Syria to seize the moment to uprise against the central government, which divides Syria into conflicting states and undermines the unity of the country." [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 5. Various of damaged building, traffic [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] Sweida, Syria - July 14, 2025: 6. Artillery being fired 7. Armed fighters, artillery on vehicle. [Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland/Orient TV/Syria Alshaab TV/Zanoubia TV/Alhurra TV/ANN TV/Al Jazeera/Al-Arabiya TV]