Syria's government misread how Israel would respond to its troops deploying to the country's south this week, encouraged by U.S. messaging that Syria should be governed as a centralized state, eight sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Damascus believed it had tacit approval to restore control in Sweida; Israeli airstrikes followed reports of troop abuses, as U.S. mediation helped broker a limited ceasefire.

Syria's Islamist-led government said its internal security forces began deploying in Sweida on Saturday as the presidency called on all parties to