Hundreds of people have been killed in days of violence in southern Syria which began with clashes between members of the Druze minority group and Bedouin tribes and drew a military intervention from Syria.

Video showed government forces on the streets of a predominantly Druze city and smoke billowing across roads as gunfire sounded.

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.

Syrian government forces were struggling to implement a shaky ceasefire in the southern province of Sweida on Saturday after factional bloodshed between Druze militias and Arab Bedouin tribes left hundreds dead, threatening the country’s postwar transition.

Syria's Islamist-led government says 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.

One day after reaching a ceasefire with Israel, Syrian military forces began moving into the country's Suwayda Governorate, where dozens of people have been killed in recent days amid fighting between warring tribes.

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

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

Clashes that shook southern Syria this week have killed hundreds of people, including civilians, and drawn in an array of both local and international players, harking back to the dynamics of the country's nearly 14-year civil war.