Aid or division attempt? Israel sends food to Syria’s Druze

Israel says it has sent 10,000 packages of food aid to Syria’s Druze, as it seeks to forge ties with the minority to shape the country’s troubled transition from civil war.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said Thursday that the operation was conducted in recent weeks in coordination with local Druze leaders, with most of the aid delivered to the overwhelmingly Druze southern region of Sweida.

Israel says it is supporting an embattled minority in a country now ruled by Islamists. But many Druze have rejected its overtures, and critics accuse Israel trying to weaken and divide Syria following the overthrow of President Bashar Assad.

Israel seized a buffer zone in southern Syria shortly after Assad’s overthrow and has carried out waves of airstrikes to destroy Syria’s military. It has ordered the new security forces not to operate south of the capital, Damascus.

Israel says it is acting in Syria to protect its citizens from Iran-backed groups that were allied with Assad as well as the new government, led by a former senior al-Qaida leader who cut ties with the group several years ago.