Syrian Druze clerics visit Israel for first time in decades

MAJDAL SHAMS

Dozens of Syrian Druze clerics crossed the armistice line on the Golan Heights into Israel on March 14 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, the clerics crossed at Majdal Shams in the Golan and headed to northern Israel.

The delegation of around 60 clerics is due to meet the spiritual leader of Israel's Druze community, Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, in northern Israel. They are then set to head to the tomb of Nabi Shuaib in the Galilee, the most important religious site for the Druze.

Followers of the esoteric monotheistic faith are mainly divided between Syria, Lebanon, Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

A source close to the delegation said that the visit followed an invitation from the Druze community in Israel, but that it had been met with "strong opposition" from other Druze in Syria.

The Druze account for about three percent of Syria's population and are heavily concentrated in the southern province of Sweida.

The pilgrimage comes as Israel has voiced support for Syria's Druze and mistrust of the country's new leaders.

Following the ouster of the former regime last year, Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes on Syria and sent troops into the demilitarized buffer zone of the Golan in southwest Syria.

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said on Thursday that 10,000 humanitarian aid packages had been sent to "the Druze community in battle areas of Syria" over the past few weeks.

During a visit to military outposts in the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone between Israel and Syria on March 11, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israel would remain in the area and ensure the protection of the Druze.

In early March, following a deadly clash between government-linked forces and Druze fighters in the suburbs of Damascus, Katz said his country would not allow Syria's new rulers "to harm the Druze.”

Druze leaders immediately rejected Katz's warning and declared their loyalty to a united Syria.

 Contacts with Africa for Gaza plan: Report

Meanwhile, the Associated Press on March 14 reported that the U.S. and Israel have reached out to officials of three East African governments to discuss using their territories as potential destinations for resettling Palestinians uprooted from the Gaza Strip under President Donald Trump's proposed postwar plan.

Officials from Sudan said they have rejected overtures from the U.S., while officials from Somalia and Somaliland told the U.S. news agency that they were not aware of any contacts.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, U.S. and Israeli officials confirmed the contacts with Somalia and Somaliland, while the Americans confirmed Sudan as well

The idea of a mass transfer of Palestinians was once considered a fantasy of Israel’s ultranationalist fringe. But since Trump presented the idea at a White House meeting last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed it as a “ bold vision.”