The Israeli military says it is monitoring "actions being taken against Druze civilians" - but Syria says its forces have been responding to the "source of fire" inside the southern city of Sweida.

Fire disaster leaves behind years of recovery challenges amid climate crisis, war remnants, minister says, with over 16,000 hectares burned and around 1,200 families affected

LATAKIA, Syria — Some of Syria’s worst wildfires in years have been brought under control as of Sunday, according to the Civil Defense and the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management, following days of grueling firefighting in the forested countryside of the coastal Latakia province.

Syria's defense minister announced a ceasefire shortly after government forces entered a key city in southern Sweida province on Tuesday, a day after sectarian clashes killed dozens there. Neighboring Israel again launched strikes on Syrian military forces,

The country is experiencing its worst drought in decades, which has set the conditions for the blazes to scorch an area the size of Washington, D.C.

The announcement came a day after sectarian clashes that killed dozens, and after a state-run news agency report that Israel had launched a strike in the area.

A Syrian official says firefighters are facing heavy winds, high temperatures and ordnance left behind from the country's 13-year civil war as they try to extinguish some of the worst wildfires in years.

Massive wildfires have torn through Syria’s coastal mountain region of Jabal Turkman since Thursday, destroying thousands of acres (hectares) of forest and overwhelming emergency services.

Wildfires in northwestern Syria, which have burned vast tracts of forest and farmland and forced evacuations, have been brought under control after 10 days.

Minister of Interior Mazen Farayah on Monday held a phone call with his Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab to express Jordan’s solidarity and follow up on efforts to contain the wildfires sweeping through Syria’s Latakia Governorate.