The Golan Heights is home to 24,000 Druze, an Arab minority who practice an offshoot of Islam and also live in Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

Announcement comes as Israeli politicians lambast Syrian transitional government for reported mass killings, urge European states to 'wake up' and stop granting regime legitimacy

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,

A group of around 100 senior figures from Syria's Druze are expected to visit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Friday, members of the community said, in a further sign of Israel's support for the minority group.

Israel’s Defense Ministry announced on Sunday that it will permit Syrian Druze workers to enter the disputed Golan Heights territory from Syria, although no timeline has been provided for when permits will start being issued.

Israel said that it was willing to defend Syria's Druze community following days of violence in Syria that a war monitor said led to mass killings of another religious minority.

Israel has dropped 10,000 humanitarian aid packages to Druze communities in southern Syria, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar disclosed on Thursday. The Israeli military is coordinating the deliveries with Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif,