The illegal crossings came around the announcement by US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack that Israel and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire supported by Turkey, Jordan, and regional partners. A group of Israeli-Druze civilians had crossed the border from Israel into Syria between Friday night to Saturday morning,

The Druze, an ethnoreligious minority in the Levant region, began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. The religion is roughly 1 million strong, and more than half of that population is estimated to live in Syria, typically in the south, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Kan news reports that some 2,000 Druze in Israel have signed onto a document declaring their intention to join the fighting in Syria if attacks against Druze by Bedouin tribesmen

Members of the Druze community in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights gathered at the border with Syria Thursday morning, anxious to be reunited with their families who crossed into Syria on Wednesday.

Hundreds of Druze from Israel pushed across the border in solidarity with their Syrian cousins they feared were under attack. Many then met relatives they had never seen before.

Violence in Syria's Druze province has triggered Israeli military action, complicating relations with Turkey and creating a power vacuum that Iran could exploit.

Amal As'ad slams Israeli overtures toward 'terrorist' who 'put on a suit and became a diplomat,' calls for Netanyahu to do more than make 'threats and statements'

Israeli leaders said they launched attacks on Syria this week to protect members of the Druze religious group in the country’s south, amid clashes in the area.

In a stunning shift, Druze communities in Syria’s Sweida region have been seen cheering and saluting Israeli forces entering their areas. The IDF says its operation aims to protect the Druze people from escalating violence by Syrian government troops under Al-Sharaa.