After five days of hunkering down at his home in the southern city of Sweida, 33-year-old Hossam emerged on Thursday and drove around to survey the damage. Wherever he went, the smell of death lingered.

Clashes that shook southern Syria this week have killed hundreds of people, including civilians, and drawn in an array of both local and international players, harking back to the dynamics of the country's nearly 14-year civil war.

Despite reports indicating the strike was carried out by Israel, Channel 12 reported that the Israeli military had not conducted the strikes.

DAMASCUS -- The death toll from this week's deadly clashes in southern Syria's Sweida province has risen to nearly 600, as tensions continued Thursday amid an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Sweida, state-run media and a war monitor reported.

More than 500 people have been killed in the sectarian violence that has consumed the southern province of Sweida in Syria since Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The recent violence was one of the deadliest bouts of unrest in Syria since the collapse of the Assad regime.

Residents emerged from their homes to scenes of devastation on Thursday after government forces withdrew from the Syrian Druze-majority city of Sweida, leaving behind looted shops, burned homes and

In Syria's Druze city of Sweida, sectarian violence has led to numerous deaths, with government forces clashing with Druze militia. The violence worsened after the government's arrival, deepening distrust of the Islamist-led government in Damascus.

The United States said on Thursday it did not support recent Israeli strikes on Syria and had made clear its displeasure, while Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa accused Israel of trying to fracture his country and promised to protect its Druze minority.