Druze religious elders from Syria make historic visit to Israel
By Mustafa Abu Ganeyeh
JULIS, Israel (Reuters) - A delegation of Druze religious elders from Syria crossed into Israel on Friday for the first such visit in more than 50 years, underscoring Israel's backing for the community amid growing tensions with the new government in Damascus.
Around 100 Druze sheikhs from villages on the slope of Mount Hermon in Syria, overlooked by the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, are due to visit shrines including sites held to be the tomb of prophet Shuayb, west of Tiberias, in the Lower Galilee.
After entering the Golan Heights, cheered by Druze in traditional black clothes and white and red head dress, some waving the white, blue, yellow, red and green flag of the Druze, they travelled by bus to the town of Julis in Israel to meet Mowafaq Tarif, spritual leader of the group in Israel.
"Feeling proud and honoured to visit here. We are one family and brothers," said Nazeh Rakab, from Hadar in Syria, as he watched the welcome ceremony in Julis, where hundreds gathered to greet the delegation waving Druze flags, with some firing into the air from the rooftops in celebration.
The Druze, an Arab minority who practise a religion originally derived from Islam, live in an area straddling Lebanon, Syria, Israel and the Golan Heights, connected across the borders by a web of kinship ties.
In Israel, many serve in the military and police, including during the war in Gaza, and some have reached high rank.
Friday's visit is intended to be a purely religious occasion but its political significance was underscored by Israeli airstrikes on what Israel described as command centres of the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad movement in Damascus a day earlier.
Israeli ministers have expressed deep misgivings about the new government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, describing his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham movement as a Jihadist group. The group was formerly affiliated with Al Qaeda but later renounced the connection.
On Thursday, Israel, which has been urging support for the Druze following the overthrow of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in December, sent truckloads of aid including oil, flour, salt and sugar, most to the southern province of Suwayda.
Earlier this week, 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, and Israel has also said it would protect Druze in Syria if needed.
(Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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