Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Saturday renewed his pledge to protect minorities, after sectarian clashes left more than 700 people dead in the Druze-majority province of Sweida.

Germany warned Syria's government Friday it needed to protect citizens of all religions and ethnicities to have Berlin's support, after accusations Syrian forces committed abuses against the Druze minority.

"This Syrian transitional government will only have our support if it commits to an inclusive process in Syria, if it protects people, and if it does not allow individuals to be persecuted because of their particular religious or ethnic affiliation, nor, worse yet, killed," Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said.

The European Union and Britain on Friday ramped up pressure on Russia over its war on Ukraine, targeting Moscow's energy sector, shadow fleet of aging oil tankers and military intelligence service with new sanctions.

"The message is clear: Europe will not back down in its support for Ukraine. The EU will keep raising the pressure until Russia ends its war," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said after the bloc agreed its new measures, including a new oil price cap.

Israel said Friday it was sending humanitarian aid to Syria's Sweida province, following days of deadly clashes in the Druze heartland.

"In light of the recent attacks targeting the Druze community in Sweida and the severe humanitarian situation in the area, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has ordered the urgent transfer of humanitarian aid to the Druze population in the region," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Hezbollah has welcomed the decision of a French appeals court to release pro-Palestinian Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, imprisoned for 40 years for the 1982 killings of two foreign diplomats.

The injustice suffered by Georges Abdallah would remain a stain on the record of the French judicial and political system, Hezbollah said in a statement Thursday.

Four people were killed on Thursday in separate Israeli strikes on south Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry reported, as Israel said it had targeted two Hezbollah members.

The attacks are the latest despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said a ceasefire in Syria was "obtained by force", after Israel struck military targets in the heart of Damascus in response to government troops attacking the Druze in Sweida.

"It is a ceasefire obtained by force. Not by demands, not by pleas -- by force," he said in a statement.

Over 500 people people have been killed in southern Syria's Sweida province, a war monitor said Thursday, giving an updated toll after several days of clashes that triggered the deployment of government forces.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights counted 79 Druze fighters and 154 civilians from Sweida among the dead, including 83 people "who were summarily executed by members of the defense and interior ministries". The clashes also claimed the lives of 243 government personnel and 18 Bedouin fighters, in addition to three members of Bedouin tribes "who were summarily executed by Druze fighters".

Russia said Thursday it had captured Ukrainian villages in three separate areas of the front line, expanding its summer offensive despite U.S. calls to end the fighting.

In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry said its forces had "liberated" the settlements of Popiv Yar in the eastern Donetsk region, Degtiarne in the northeast Kharkiv region and Kamianske in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said an Israeli strike on Gaza's only Catholic church killed two people on Thursday, as Israel said it "never targets" religious sites.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Thursday that "Israeli strikes on Gaza have also hit the Holy Family Church", slamming "unacceptable" attacks on the civilian population.