ISTANBUL

Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes targeting southern Syria’s Suwayda governorate and Daraa in the country’s southwest.

Syria’s state news agency SANA reported multiple strikes by the Israeli army in the Druze-majority Suwayda governorate, but did not provide any details about casualties.

Israel’s Army Radio also reported a strike on a Syrian tank after entering Suwayda city.

SANA said Israeli fighter jets also staged airstrikes on the outskirts of Izra city in the Daraa countryside.

An Israeli military statement said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the army to strike Syrian forces and military vehicles in Suwayda.

The army “struck several armored fighting vehicles consisting of tanks, APCs, and MLRS, as well as access roads, in order to disrupt the convoys' arrival to the area,” the statement said.

Early Tuesday, Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra announced a full ceasefire in Suwayda following negotiations with local community leaders.

According to SANA, the Syrian army has begun withdrawing heavy military equipment from Suwayda, preparing for the handover of the city’s neighborhoods to internal security forces responsible for maintaining law and order.

On Monday, more than 30 people were killed and nearly 100 others injured in clashes between armed Bedouin tribal fighters and Druze militias in Suwayda, the Syrian Interior Ministry said.