The head of the Druze community in Israel on Thursday hailed plans for the first visit by a Druze religious delegation from Syria in five decades, despite escalating cross-border tensions underscored by an Israeli airstrike on Damascus.

Israel has dropped 10,000 humanitarian aid packages to Druze communities in southern Syria, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar disclosed on Thursday. The Israeli military is coordinating the deliveries with Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif,

Members of the small religious sect find themselves caught between two forces that many of them distrust: the new, Islamist-led government in Damascus and Syria’s hostile neighbor, Israel, which has used the plight of the Druze as a pretext to intervene in the country.

Israel has sent humanitarian aid to Druze communities in its neighbour Syria over the past few weeks, its foreign ministry said on Thursday, in a further sign of backing for the minority group.

Announcement comes as Israeli politicians lambast Syrian transitional government for reported mass killings, urge European states to 'wake up' and stop granting regime legitimacy

Israel said that it was willing to defend Syria's Druze community following days of violence in Syria that a war monitor said led to mass killings of another religious minority.