Good evening, I'm William Brangham. Jeff Bennett and Omna Nawaz are away.

On the news hour tonight, the family of a Palestinian-American murdered in the West Bank by Israeli settlers

speaks out about his death and the escalating conflict. Rural public media stations face an uncertain future as the Trump administration moves to

slash funding.

And Canadian tourism to the U.S. drops dramatically in the wake of harsh rhetoric from the president.

I have many U.S. friends, American friends friends that I will not be seeing in person for a while

because of us. But that's, it's la vie, as we say here in Quebec.

Welcome to the NewsHour. There is word that some Syrian military units are withdrawing from the southern city of Suwaita tonight after days of deadly fighting. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced today that all parties, including Israel, agreed to a ceasefire.

But the day began with Israeli strikes in Syria's capital.

Part of an operation that Israel claimed was to protect a minority group within Syria that it considers an ally.

Today, the heart of Damascus, shaken by huge explosions.

Several were captured live on TV, including this one, reposted online by Israel's defense minister with his message, the painful blows

have begun.

The Israeli strikes targeted the headquarters of Syria's defense ministry.

Another hit the hills near the presidential palace.

Israel is scaling up its intervention as unrest in southern Syria continues to rage.

The conflict started in Sueda, where back and forth kidnappings and other attacks

between Bedouin tribes and Druze militias escalated this week,

prompting the Syrian government to send troops into the predominantly

Druze region.

A UK-based war monitoring group estimates more than 250 people have been killed.

The Syrian government tried to mediate between the Druze and these Bedouin tribes.

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