Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa vowed Sunday to keep his country united after years of civil war, urging reconciliation without further bloodshed and accusing Israel of stirring conflict in the south.

His remarks, released by state TV on Sunday, came as hundreds demonstrated in south Syria's Suwayda province, denouncing sectarian violence last month and calling for the right to self-determination for the Druze-majority province.

"We still have another battle ahead of us to unify Syria, and it should not be with blood and military force ... it should be through some kind of understanding because Syria is tired of war," al-Sharaa said during a dialogue session involving notables from the northwest province of Idlib and other senior officials.

"I do not see Syria as at risk of division. Some people desire a process of dividing Syria and trying to establish cantons ... this matter is impossible," he said, according to a recording of the meeting, distributed overnight by state media.

"Some parties seek to gain power through regional power, Israel or others. This is also extremely difficult and cannot be implemented," he said.

At the protest in Suwayda, some demonstrators waved the Israeli flag and called for self-determination for the region.

A week of bloodshed in Suwayda began on July 13 with clashes between Druze and Bedouin fighters, but rapidly escalated, drawing in government forces, with Israel also carrying out airstrikes.

Syrian authorities have said their forces intervened to stop the clashes, but witnesses, Druze factions and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have claimed otherwise.

Al-Sharaa said that Suwayda "witnessed many violations from all sides ... some members of the security forces and army in Syria also carried out some violations."

The state is required "to hold all perpetrators of violations to account," whatever their affiliation, he added.

"Israel is intervening directly in Suwayda, seeking to implement policies aimed at weakening the state in general or finding excuses to interfere in ongoing policies in the southern region," al-Sharaa said.

Israel, which has its own Druze community, claimed it has acted to defend the minority group as well as enforce its demands for the demilitarization of southern Syria.

Syria's new authorities are also in talks with a semi-autonomous Kurdish administration that runs swathes of the country's north and northeast and has called for decentralization, which Damascus has rejected.

Implementation of a March 10 deal on integrating the Kurds' semi-autonomous civil and military institutions into the state has been held up by differences between the parties.

"We are now discussing the mechanisms for implementation" of the deal, Sharaa said.