Dr Talat Amer, a surgeon at Sweida National Hospital in southern Syria, worked tirelessly for three days as bombs fell and the building came under siege from government and militia forces.

Badly needed humanitarian supplies started to reach Syria's Druze-majority Sweida province on Sunday, a day after a ceasefire was announced following a week of sectarian fighting that left hundreds dead,

As a fragile ceasefire holds in southern Syria following deadly clashes, a Syrian Druze writer in exile Sarah Hunaidi tells CNN it’s a “horrible situation” on the ground, as food supplies run low and hospitals remain out of service.

Syrian government forces had largely pulled out of the Druze-majority southern province of Sweida after days of clashes with militias linked to the Druze religious minority that threatened to unravel the country’s fragile post-war transition.

"Now is the time for the Syrian government to turn their words into real actions if they want to maintain legitimacy: restore order, protect all of its citizens," Hamadeh says

At the center of a crisis in Syria are the Druze — a secretive religious minority that long carved out a precarious identity across Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

Israeli military responds to protect Syrian Druze from Islamist militants as local Druze citizens cross the border to aid their brethren, prompting concerns from Israeli officials.

One woman tells the BBC she cowered in her home waiting for gunmen to enter and "decide whether we should live or die".