Dozens of Druze brought back from Syria, unknown number of Syrians still in Israel — IDF

Overnight, the IDF managed to return dozens of Israeli Druze who had crossed into Syria yesterday, according to the military.

Still, several dozen Druze from Israel remain inside Syria, mostly in the Hader area, a Druze town just over the border from Majdal Shams on the Golan Heights.

The IDF and Israel Police also sent several Syrian Druze, who had crossed into Israel at the same time, back to Syria, the army says. It is unclear how many Syrian Druze still remain in Israel.

There were no crossings of the border or protests overnight, says the army. It adds that work is scheduled to fix the breaches in the fence and, with police, set up blockades in the area to prevent any further crossings.

Mass breaches of the frontier came amid deadly clashes in the Druze-majority city of Sweida in southern Syria yesterday.

Syrian government forces deployed to the Sweida area amid the clashes, and in response, the IDF struck them and other military targets in Damascus, saying it was protecting the Druze.

The Syrian forces have been withdrawing from Sweida since last night.