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Israel ramped up airstrikes in Syria on Wednesday following reports that members of the Druze religious minority were being massacred by militant Islamists, shining a spotlight on a unique community that has lived in the region for more than a thousand years and remains tightly connected despite being scattered across international borders.
Around 150,000 Druze live in Israel’s north and on the Golan Heights, but there are also large communities in Syria and Lebanon – neighboring countries that have technically been at war with Israel for decades – and a smaller group in Jordan.
An esoteric, monotheistic religion that incorporates elements of other Abrahamic religions, as well as several other philosophies, the Druze, an Arabic-speaking population, view themselves as one people despite the hostile borders that divide them.
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As their religion dictates loyalty to the country in which they live, most of those that live in Israel are proud citizens, with an overwhelming 83% of the men enlisting in the Israeli army. Roughly 5% of all Israel Defense Forces soldiers are Druze, and they are some of the country’s fiercest warriors.
Additionally, the Druze account for around 20% of Israel’s prison guards and about 6.5% of the country’s police officers.
This dedication has earned them a special place in Israeli society, pushing Israeli political and military leaders to promise action if the Druze community in Syria is threatened in any way.
As reports surfaced that Islamists, and regime-backed loyalists, had clashed with Druze militia in southern Syria on Tuesday, more than a thousand young Israeli Druze citizens rushed across the border in a bid to rescue their brethren, Israeli media reported.
Reports showed hundreds of people, including some who were armed, breaking down the border fence and rushing into nearby Druze villages in Syria.
In a briefing on Wednesday, an Israeli military official explained that many members of Israel’s Druze community have close relatives living in Syria and that is why they went to help. The official said Israel was now working to bring them home.
“The IDF is committed to the deep alliance with the Druze community,” IDF chief of staff Eyal Zamir emphasized.
Professor Eyal Zisser, a leading Israeli academic expert on Syria and the Druze community, told Fox News Digital that it was a “unique” situation.
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“Israel’s Druze community is putting pressure on the government, so for domestic reasons Israel has to deal with this,” he said, adding that the current Israeli government “believes in using force to appease its base and show that it is strong and using power, or whatever is needed.”
This is not the first time, Israel’s Druze have rushed to protect their community in Syria. In 2015, when Druze there came under threat from ISIS and from the local al Qaeda affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, Druze in Israel worked to raise funds and arms for their brethren across the border.
In April, months after the fall of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, hundreds of Syrian Druze clerics crossed the border taking a rare trip to Israel to celebrate the community’s holiday of Ziyara at the Nabi Shuaib holy site, just west of the Sea of Galilee.
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