The Druze are a religious sect. Here's a look at their beliefs and history

The Druze religious sect, enmeshed in an outbreak of tit-for-tat violence in Syria, began roughly 1,000 years ago as an offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. A core social doctrine for Druze is defending their brothers, meaning defending one another, said Makram Rabah, assistant professor of history at the American University of Beirut.