"The minute we see terrorists going into hospitals and murdering children and patients, we cannot stand idle," Fares Alawi told the Israeli news site. Israel-Druze political activist Fares Alawi crossed the border into Syria on Wednesday,

Syrian officials and Druze leaders have announced a new ceasefire after days of violent clashes, but Israel has continued its airstrikes after intervening.

Israel carried out a series of powerful strikes on the Syrian capital Damascus Wednesday, escalating a campaign it says is in support of an Arab minority group involved in deadly clashes with Syrian government forces.

Israel said it "struck the entrance of the Syrian regime's military headquarters" and warns of more "painful blows".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, said the clashes started after members of a Bedouin tribe in Sweida province set up a checkpoint where they attacked and robbed a Druze man, leading to tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings between the tribes and Druze armed groups.

A fresh wave of deadly sectarian violence has rocked Syria, highlighting the country's fragile security landscape.

"Silence and standing idly by are no longer an option,” Druze leader Sheikh Mowafak Tarif wrote. Israel's Druze spiritual leadership called on its community to prepare to assist their Syrian counterparts “by all means necessary,