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By Arlene Bridges Samuels

On July 27—just days ago—a Hezbollah missile crashed into a soccer field in Majdal Shams, a peaceful Druze village in northern Israel. Yet, soon after murdering 12 Druze children and teens, with injuries to many more, Hezbollah terrorists claimed that they were not the culprits.

The next morning, 10 of the children’s caskets, carried on the shoulders of shocked pallbearers at the mass funeral, began the procession in a long line toward their burial places. Forensic evidence has proven that the 110-pound missile was indeed an Iranian-made Falaq-1 weapon, launched from southern Lebanon onto innocent children at soccer practice. The community of Majdal Shams is a scant four miles from the Lebanese border in the Golan Heights.

Hezbollah has occupied southern Lebanon since the 1980s, developing into Iran’s most powerful proxy. It is now a state within a state, the Islamic Regime on the ground—and right next to Israel. Hezbollah stores tons of its weapons in Lebanon, including at Beirut’s international airport and in nearby warehouses. Make no mistake: The Islamic Regime is the savage sponsor for its surrogates in the Middle East.

The Regime once again exhibited its evil toward innocent children as it did on October 7, 2023—this time through Hezbollah. The anguished Druze community is asking a question that must be answered, “Why is Beirut still standing?” Without doubt, this query applies to Hezbollah’s massive weapons depot, since the IDF does not target innocent civilians.

The Druze are a minority in Israel, composed of around 150,000 people, and many choose to become Israeli citizens. They valiantly serve in the Israel Defense Forces, often in senior positions. Ten Druze officers have perished thus far fighting the war against Hamas. Israeli Druze are a close-knit community and loyal to Israel. Approximately 1 million other Druze live in Syria and Lebanon.

As a unique religious and ethnic group, Druze mostly broke away from Islam a thousand years ago and created their mysterious, monotheistic religion combining elements of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Greek philosophy. They revere Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, as their prophet, and every April they honor Jethro with a three-day Druze festival in Tiberius. Ninety-nine percent of Israeli Druze said they believe in God. Druze do not allow converts or demand their own state, and they speak both Arabic and Hebrew. Israeli Druze citizens in the IDF refer to the Jewish-Druze partnership as “a covenant of blood” in recognition of the military yoke carried by both groups for the security of Israel. Many Druze serve in elite IDF units.

Any Christian who has visited a Druze community has memories of their warm hospitality, and I am among them. The massacre in Majdal Shams hit me hard. In 2019, I attended Israel’s Christian Media Summit, organized by that nation’s Government Press Office. A Jewish friend organized a day trip to Majdal Shams for a group of us Christian media prior to the summit. The Druze community treated us like royalty. Their hospitality overflowed, providing a meal of delicious food and holding a soccer game in our honor. The same soccer field where the children were murdered and injured, a green field now red with the blood of children in view of Israel’s lush Golan Heights.

Our hosts presented us with a special bronze medallion. Embossed on the front and back in English and Arabic, it pictured Druze, American, and Israeli flags tied with a blue-and-white ribboned lanyard symbolizing Israel’s flag colors. One of our hosts was Mendi Safadi, head of the Safadi Center for International Diplomacy, Research, Human Rights and Public Relations, who greeted us warmly. I have stayed in touch with Mendi, and he sent me his first-hand perspective on the massacre. Mendi was born and grew up in Majdal Shams and is raising his family there. He commented with relief that his children were spared because they were late to soccer practice on that fateful day, and while they “are OK,” Mendi “hurts with his community every moment.”

He describes the scene of the massacre as “still bloody, and the remains of body parts are still being collected, but the facts do not prevent the series of lies from flooding the Arab media.” He goes on to say that the Iranian Falaq-1 missile contained “over 50 kilos of explosives.” We cannot comprehend the pain of collecting the body parts of our children. He calls October 7 and July 27 the Jewish and Druze “Black Sabbaths,” stating that “We cry out, ‘NO MORE!’” Mendi advises, “Israel must wisely ignore the external pressures that have no compassion for the blood that is spilled.” He remarks, “Today more than ever my thesis proves its correctness that it is impossible to fight terrorism with democratic tools.”

About the terrorist organizations, Mendi has no complaints against them because he doesn’t “expect anything [different] from them.” Rather, he says, “I have complaints against the enlightened and democratic world that has been running around for more than nine months to tie Israel’s hands and prevent it from protecting its citizens. I have complaints against the president of the United States who thwarts our efforts to destroy terrorism for electoral reasons. If the West has not yet realized that they are next in line if Israel falls, there is nothing left to expect.”

In addition, he observes, “As the pressure on Israel increases, the possibility of freeing the captives recedes; as the West adds humanitarian aid, more children are killed; as more surrender to terrorism, negotiate with it and meet its demands, October 7 may return.”

While Mendi mentions the Arab media, look at some of the other headlines that degrade the murders of Israeli Druze children: A BBC headline read, “Ten Dead in Rocket Attack on Israeli-Occupied Golan.” The Washington Post emphasized this headline: “Israel Hits Targets in Lebanon.” No emphasis on the Islamic Regime or its proxy Hezbollah as the murderers they are. Israel does not “occupy the western two-thirds of the Golan Heights” as some have falsely claimed. This region rightfully belongs to Israel.

After his immediate notification about the massacre, Benjamin Netanyahu returned early from his trip to the United States, flying back on Wing of Zion, Israel’s version of Air Force One. When he landed, he went directly to meet with his security cabinet where they finalized their military decisions, and then he visited Majdal Shams.

Speaking with the deeply devastated community, Israel’s Prime Minister declared, “Our response will come, and it will be harsh.” He observed, “We are brothers. We have an alliance in life, and unfortunately also an alliance in times of bereavement and agony. … Israel will continue to stand with you.”

Mendi Safadi’s conclusion rings true: “Israel has no way of regaining its military superiority that would deter its enemies, without proving it in a powerful and overwhelming war against Iran’s central arm [Hezbollah] in the region.”

With war on every front, plus the mainstream media’s propaganda war against Israel, we continue to pray for Israel and her citizens. We rely upon God as described in Psalm 46:7—“Here He comes! The Commander! The mighty LORD of Angel Armies is on our side! The God of Jacob fights for us!”

Prayer Points:

• Pray for Druze in Israel as they face the horrors of terror that has befallen their youth—and especially for the families of the 16 Druze children who remain hospitalized.
• Pray for Israel’s leaders to make the hard decisions needed to defeat the new Hitlers.
• Pray for an increase in humanitarian aid and trauma teams already in motion to help.
• Pray for people of good will to stand up and speak out the facts about our greatest ally, Israel.
  

Arlene Bridges Samuels pioneered Christian outreach for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). After she served nine years on AIPAC’s staff, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as Outreach Director part-time for their project, American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel and has traveled to Israel since 1990. She co-edited The Auschwitz Album Revisited and is on the board of Violins of Hope South Carolina. By invitation, Arlene attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits. She also hosts her devotionals, The Eclectic Evangelical, on her website at ArleneBridgesSamuels.com.