Syria’s Druze minority is trying to navigate a new, uncertain Syria. Members of the small religious sect find themselves caught between two forces that many of them distrust: the new, Islamist-led government in Damascus and Syria’s hostile neighbor,

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.

As violence escalates in Syria, Israel has announced its readiness to protect the Druze community, a minority group that has found itself caught in the crossfire of the country’s ongoing turmoil. The move highlights Israel’s longstanding ties with the Druze and underscores its concern for regional stability and humanitarian protection.

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

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. Israel captured most of the strategic plateau from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed it in 1981. The U.S. views it as Israeli territory, but most countries classify it as occupied.

Members of the small religious sect find themselves caught between two forces that many of them distrust: the new, Islamist-led government in Damascus and Syria’s hostile neighbor, Israel, which has used the plight of the Druze as a pretext to intervene in the country.

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 is preparing to "soon" allow Syrian Druze to work in the Golan Heights, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday."We will soon allow Druze workers from Syria to work in the Golan Heights communities in Israel,