AL-QUDS (Dispatches) – The Zionist regime would issue work permits for Druze citizens of Syria to work in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, the occupying regime’s war minister Israel Katz announced on Sunday.
The move would be made “soon,” Katz said in a statement, without specifying the exact timeline.
Katz added that the permits would be issued as part of a regime plan. The regime “is now approving an unprecedented aid plan for the Druze and Circassian communities in Israel,” he noted.
The minister praised the “loyalty, bravery, and contribution to Israel’s security” of the Druze citizens, many of whom serve in the occupying regime’s military. “We will continue to strengthen them and also protect their brethren in Syria against any threat,” he added.
Druze people primarily live in Lebanon, Syria, and the occupied territories, with smaller groups in Jordan. The occupying regime has been working to solidify ties with the Druze community since expanding its occupation towards Syria and in the occupied Golan Heights following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024.
Earlier this month, following an outbreak of unrest between security forces and local gunmen in the Druze area of Syria’s Jaramana, Zionist prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Katz ordered military troops to ‘defend’ the Druze population there.
Last week, Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt called on Syria’s Druze community to remain cautious of the Zionist regime’s plots.
Speaking at a press conference, the former leader of the Progressive Socialist Party said: “The free people of Jabal Al-Arab [the Druze] must be wary of Israeli schemes in Syria.”
“There is a plan to undermine Arab national security,” he stressed.
Commenting on the Druze community, Jumblatt said: “Those who united Syria during the era of Sultan Pasha al-Atrash will not heed the calls of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”