Over half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel and the Golan Heights, a rocky plateau seized from Syria by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel’s 1981 annexation of the area is recognized only by the United States, with the rest of the world considering it occupied Syrian territory.

It's the first time in five decades that Druze leaders have crossed from Syria into Israeli-controlled territory to visit Druze religious sites and communities here. The buffer zo

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Druze from across the separation line would be allowed to enter the Golan Heights for work.

Dozens of Syrian Druze clerics crossed the armistice line on the Golan Heights into Israel on Friday for their community's first pilgrimage to a revered shrine since Israel's creation in 1948.On board three buses escorted by Israeli military vehicles,

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.

In a historic moment, dozens of Syrian Druze clerics crossed into Israel for their first pilgrimage since 1948. They were set to meet with community leaders and visit a sacred site, amid mixed reactions from regional Druze communities.

The Syrian Druze were a minority in the Assad era who mostly kept to themselves, with some past positive history with Israel.

Israel said on Monday that it was willing to defend Syria's Druze community following days of violence in Syria that a war monitor said led to mass

The head of the Druze community in Israel on Thursday hailed plans for the first visit by a Druze religious delegation from Syria in five decades, despite escalating cross-border tensions underscored by an Israeli airstrike on Damascus.