Syrian Druze have reached a ceasefire agreement with the Syrian government in Sweida, which will take effect immediately, said Druze religious leader Sheikh Youssef Jarbu, quoted by "Reuters".
The ceasefire announced on Tuesday evening collapsed after just a few hours. According to a local resident quoted by "Reuters", government forces were still shelling the mainly Druze town of Sweida after the ceasefire was announced.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the violence in southern Syria was "a direct threat to efforts to build a peaceful and stable Syria".
"We have had and continue to have repeated and constant talks with the governments of Syria and Israel on this issue", he added.
However, influential Druze leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajari said the fighting must continue until Sweida is "fully liberated".
Hajari and Jarbu are rivals. Hajari's forces are leading the offensive against the Syrian government and are sharply critical of Syria's new rulers. Without his consent, a ceasefire is highly unlikely to take place.
Israel earlier reported that it had struck the entrance to the Syrian Ministry of Defense in Damascus.
Suwayda is located in southern Syria, where most of the country's Druze live. Other Druze communities live around Damascus, the country's capital, and northern Syria. Syria borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed in 1981. Syria attempted to regain the strategic plateau in the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, but was thwarted. Israel and Syria signed a ceasefire in 1974, and the Golan Heights have been relatively peaceful since.