In areas like Daraa and Suweida, local groups are elbowing their way into some of the smuggling voids left by Assad's army and pro-Iranian groups like Hezbollah. That means more to fight over.

For more than a century, Druze soldiers and politicians have made their mark on today's Syria. They are still writing their own history, as the recent Suweida violence shows.

This Druze-dominated city that has been the scene of fierce fighting in recent days may be a single governorate, but it is home to myriad armed groups with sometimes conflicting agendas.

The terrible violence in southern Syria this month shows what needs to be done by all actors, and shows what fate awaits if they do not.

The guns may have fallen silent but in Syria's Druze-dominated southern city, they have enforced the status quo. That is dangerous, since it fails to recognise that Syria has now fundamentally changed

Geir Pedersen condemns Israeli strikes and urges genuine dialogue between Syrian authorities and the local Druze community in Suweida.

Tel Aviv does not want a military power led by former Islamists on its doorstep, so is throwing a protective missile system around Syria's minorities, whether they want it or not. Will it backfire?

Israel's offensive posture in Syria and its offer to "protect" minorities points to broader ambitions that could also end up backfiring

The issue of the Druze mountain predates the modern Syrian state itself, but has resurfaced following recent Israeli statements about their intent to "protect" Syria's Druze

Now known as the Sweida Governorate, it has a unique history, steeped in resistance to empires and colonialists. This is its story of the mountain, dating back to a flight from the Levant.