In a televised address early on Thursday, Sharaa vowed to hold the perpetrators accountable and promised to make protecting the Druze a "priority". "We are eager to hold accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people because they are under the protection and responsibility of the state," he said. He went on to blame "outlaw groups", saying their leaders "rejected dialogue for many months". He also said the government had agreed that the military would pull out of Suweida and responsibility for security would be handed to religious elders and some local factions. State media have also cited authorities and tribes as accusing "outlaw groups" of carrying out "massacres" of Bedouin fighters and civilians and other violations. The UN human rights chief said there must be "independent, prompt and transparent investigations into all violations, and those responsible must be held to account, in accordance with international standards". "It is crucial that immediate steps are taken to prevent recurrence of such violence. Revenge and vengeance are not the answer," he added. Türk raised concerns regarding reports of civilian casualties resulting from Israeli air strikes on Suweida, Daraa and in the centre of Damascus, where the defence ministry's headquarters and a site near the presidential palace were hit. Israel said it carried out the strikes to stop government forces from attacking the Druze and to force the military to withdraw from Suweida province. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Thursday night that it had documented the killing of at least 594 people during the violence. The UK-based monitoring group reported that 300 members of the Druze religious minority were killed, including 146 fighters and 154 civilians, 83 of whom were "summarily executed" by members of the interior and defence ministry's forces. At least 257 government personnel and 18 Bedouin fighters were also killed, while three Bedouin civilians were summarily killed by Druze fighters, it added.