The International Fellowship or Christians and Jews quickly mobilized his means in July for persecuted Syrian Druze and Christians who are confronted with what some have called a genocide, performed by jihadists in southern Syria.
Who are the Druze? Religious Group helps Syrian members under Islamic attack, Israeli members offer support
Syrian security forces walk along a street after collisions between Syrian government forces and local Druzen hunters resumed in the southern Druze city of Sweida July 16, 2025. (Reuters/Karam Al-Masri)
Her organization, she noticed, had never had surgery in Syria before this year, but said that her organization “received an urgent call from a SWEIDA hospital, and they needed basic medicines, surgical care, ICU medicine and equipment, needs response equipment and masks for mortar workers.”
The Fellowship coordinated with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to deliver medicines and equipment to Sweida. Eckstein said her group “delivered retired Israeli ambulances to Syria so that the locals can serve them.”
The majority of Druze City by Sweida was a center of the siege that was performed by Syrian Islamists who are loyal to the new President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former member of terrorist movements designated by the US, Al Qaida and the Islamic State.
According to Christian Temporary NetworkChristians were also the target. Islamists reportedly killed Khaled Mazhar, pastor of the Good Shepherd Evangelical Church in Sweida, together with 11 family members. An extra person survived the massacre of Christians because the Islamists thought she was dead.
Who are the Druze? Religious Group helps Syrian members under Islamic attack, Israeli members offer support
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, the largest philanthropic group of Israel, sent help to the Druzen community of Syria in the midst of persecution and attacks by Islamic militants. (The International Fellowship or Christians and Jews)
In July, Israel launched military strikes against the largely Bedouin troops on the way to the southern city of Sweida to stop the massacre. Israel also attacked the Syrian defense headquarters in Damascus to stop the bloodshed in Sweida. Eckstein added that at least “26 Druze villages were completely burned.”
Eckstein said that the Fellowship first offered help in Syria in April when Druze was the target and killed in Syria.
“When we provided 1,500 food boxes to the Druze within 13 kilometers from Israel’s borders after the massacre in April, two days later the Islamist boxes of the Fellowship burned,” Eckstein Sid.
Israel and Syria have no diplomatic relations. Syria is considered an enemy state because it has launched several wars against Israel since the rebirth of the Jewish state in 1948.
Eckstein said that the community “operates in enemy territory, and Jews and Christians offer life -saving help. Islamists don’t like it. We would like to see that it is in the interests of the Syrian government to receive help and hope that more goodness will be brought to Syria.
“Now Jewish people are being persecuted by Christians in Syria. It is really important to emphasize that this is a case of good versus evil and is not only limited to Syria. It is important for Jews and Christians to stand together with regard to Judeo-Christian values that sanctify life.”
The International Fellowship or Christians and Jews provided help to Druze, Christian and other minorities affected by recent attacks. Trucks came through the border of Israel with Syria. (The International Fellowship or Christians and Jews)
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“As soon as the inhabitants of the deserted village come back, they will understand the size of a disaster. Women were abducted by jihads and children were abducted and missing.”
Marich has been in contact with his colleague Druze in Syria.
“This war is essentially religious,” he said. “There is a video from Daesh [Islamic State] Go to one of the villages with the question: “Are you a Druze or Sunni?” And he replied that he is Syrian. He asked him again, so he answered Druze and he was shot in the middle of the street. It is clear that there is a religious motivation behind this event.
“It is important for me to help the Druze, because I am a drizzle in the first place. The Druze people are not aggressive and hostile, but they will not be unemployed when they are attacked. We have a commandment in the Druze tradition to help our brothers. To arrive at the Druze community where it could be in the world.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (not seen) and Syrian interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa hold a press conference after their meeting in the presidential complex in Ankara, Turkey, 4 February 2025. (Mehmet Ali Ozcan/Anadolu via Getty images)
Marich also noticed that he is Israeli, and recently a Druze officer was killed in Gaza. Twelve officers from the Druze community have been killed in Gaza since the war.
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“They died of defending Israel and the Jewish people. We have the expectation that the Israeli society will come through the Druzen community, and so we can defend our brothers in Syria. The state of Israel cannot afford to have Daesh about his limits and in the Golan HEIGHS.”
He pointed to the example of Hamas on the border and its growth as a military danger over the years as a warning that radical Islamists gained a foothold in the Syrian-Israeli border.
