Israel Offers Humanitarian Aid to Syrian Druze Communities
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel has sent humanitarian aid to Druze communities in its neighbour Syria over the past few weeks, its foreign ministry said on Thursday, in a further sign of backing for the minority group.
Israel has been urging support for the Druze following the overthrow of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in December and his replacement by the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Following Assad's ouster, Israel carried out extensive airstrikes on Syrian military bases and moved forces into a U.N.-monitored demilitarised zone within Syria, in what it has said was a defensive and indefinite measure.
"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 Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement.
The packages included basic goods including oil, flour, salt and sugar, and were mostly delivered to the southern province of Suwayda, the ministry added.
Israel has expressed deep mistrust of the new Syrian government, describing Ahmed al-Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham movement as a jihadist group. HTS was affiliated with Al Qaeda but later renounced the connection.
Four sources told Reuters last month Israel was lobbying the United States to keep Syria weak and decentralised, including by letting Russia keep its military bases there to counter Turkey's growing influence in the country.
"Europe must play a part in protecting Syria's minorities. It must remain watchful of Turkey's policies in the region and beyond," Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said at a press conference alongside his Greek and Cypriote counterparts in Athens.
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 expected to visit there on Friday.
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.
(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Kate Mayberry and Andrew Heavens)
