Syrian Druze religious leaders arrive in Israel for first visit in 50 years

Record ID: 1983503

  • Title: Syrian Druze religious leaders arrive in Israel for first visit in 50 years
  • Date: 14th March 2025
  • Summary: MAJDAL SHAMS, GOLAN HEIGHTS (MARCH 14, 2025) (REUTERS) ISRAELI MILITARY VEHICLES AT GATE ALONG BORDER AREA BETWEEN ISRAEL AND SYRIA ISRAELI SOLDIERS VARIOUS OF DRUZE CHILD STANDING WITH DRUZE FLAG DRUZE COMMUNITY WAITING TO WELCOME SYRIAN DRUZE DELEGATION DRUZE MEN STANDING DRUZE MAN WITH DRUZE FLAG CONVOY OF BUSES AND SECURITY ARRIVING FROM SYRIA CONVOY MOVING THROUGH, DR
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: conflict druze golan heights israel syria syrian government
  • Location: MAJDAL SHAMS, GOLAN HEIGHTS
  • City: MAJDAL SHAMS, GOLAN HEIGHTS
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
  • Reuters ID: LVA001880214032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:A delegation of Druze religious leaders from Syria arrived in Israel on Friday (March 14), for a first visit in five decades, despite escalating cross-border tensions.
    Around 100 Syrian Druze religious elders crossed into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in buses and headed to meet Israeli Druze leaders and community.
    The Druze, an Arab minority who practice a religion originally derived from Islam, live in Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, occupying a distinctive position in the region's mosaic of faiths and cultures.
    It was the first such visit to Israel in some 50 years, when a group came in the immediate aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur war between Israel, Syria, and Egypt.
    The head of the Druze community in Israel, Sheik Mowafaq Tarif, hailed the visit and called it "a historic, festive day".
    The religious elders, mostly from a string of Druze villages on the slope of Mount Hermon in Syria, are expected to visit shrines including sites held to be the tomb of prophet Shuayb, west of Tiberias, in the Lower Galilee.
    (Production: Avi Ohayon, Avivit Delgoshen)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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