Israel said on Monday 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. The violence began last week between fighters linked to Syria's new government and forces loyal to ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

Syria’s Druze minority is trying to navigate a new, uncertain Syria. 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,

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

The Golan Heights is home to 24,000 Druze, an Arab minority who practice an offshoot of Islam and also live in Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

Israel would issue work permits for Druze citizens of Syria to work in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced. The move would be made “soon,” Katz said in a statement,

Israel’s defense minister says minority Druze in Jaramana a town south of Damascus, were under attack from the new Syrian regime and that he ordered Israeli forces to be poised to help protect them if necessary.

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’s Defense Ministry announced on Sunday that it will permit Syrian Druze workers to enter the disputed Golan Heights territory from Syria, although no timeline has been provided for when permits will start being issued.

Israel is preparing to "soon" allow Syrian Druze to work in the Golan Heights, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday."We will soon allow Druze workers from Syria to work in the Golan Heights communities in Israel,