JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has sent humanitarian aid to Druze communities in Syria over the past few weeks, its foreign ministry said on Thursday, in a further sign of Israel’s support for the minority group.
“In an operation conducted over the past few weeks, 10,000 packages of humanitarian aid were thus far delivered to the Druze community in the battle areas of Syria,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The packages included basic goods like oil, flour, salt and sugar, and were mostly delivered to the southern province of Suwayda, the Foreign Ministry said.
The Druze, an Arab minority present in Syria, Israel, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Lebanon, practise a faith that originated in Islam but which has a distinct identity.
In Israel, many Druze serve in the military, including in the war in Gaza, and some have reached senior ranks.
Since the ouster of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, Israeli leaders have expressed deep mistrust of the new Syrian government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, describing his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) movement as a Jihadist group. HTS was affiliated with extremist group Al Qaeda but later renounced the connection.
Israel has called for the rights of Syrian minority groups including the Druze to be protected.
This week, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Syrian Druze would be allowed to enter and work in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 war.
A group of around 100 senior figures from Syria’s Druze are also expected to visit the Golan Heights on Friday, members of the community said.
(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
