“Why is Beirut still standing?” townspeople ask ministers at mass funeral.
By Etgar Lefkovits, JNS
Leaders and members of the Druze community in Israel on Sunday demanded that the government carry out a swift and fierce military response against Hezbollah after it killed 12 children and wounded around 40 others as they played soccer.
Saturday evening’s rocket attack on the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights was the deadliest assault on northern Israel since the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization began raining down thousands of missiles, rockets and drones on Israel the day after the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre to the south.
“In our view, what happens to the northern Israeli communities is the same thing that should happen to Beirut and the parliament in Beirut,” Yasser Ghadban, chairman of the Forum of Druze Localities, told JNS on Sunday.
“It is high time that the international community unite with Israel against the terrorism the Iranian regime is spreading throughout the Middle East and beyond,” Ghadban said.
Former Communications Minister Ayoob Kara, who is Druze and a member of the Likud Party, said, “This is a golden opportunity which must be seized for Israel to get rid of the menace of Hezbollah terrorism from our northern border.”
He noted that Hezbollah denied responsibility for the rocket strike since it did not kill Jews but rather Druze, and as such does not want this to be trigger for a major Israeli response. “If we don’t do it now when Hezbollah is cornered it will be a lament for generations to come,” Kara said.
People at the scene of the deadly rocket attack at a soccer field in Majdal Shams, the Golan Heights, July 28, 2024. Photo by David Cohen/Flash90.
Spotlight on the Druze
A religious sect that began about a thousand years ago in Egypt as an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, the Druze, who number about one million worldwide, primarily live in Syria, Lebanon and Israel, as well as in smaller communities in Western cities around the globe.
The insular and close-knit Druze faith was influenced by the Quran, Christianity and Judaism, as well Greek philosophy and Eastern mysticism, according to the American Druze Foundation.
More than 150,000 Druze live in Israel, representing about 1.6% of the population, according to figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Druze are notably loyal to the country in which they live. Along with members of the smaller Circassian community, Druze Israeli men perform mandatory service in the IDF, where they excel and have long been known for their high rate of enlistment in combat units and careers in the military.
Hezbollah’s miscalculation
While the Druze who live in the Galilee are strongly pro-Israel, some residents of the four Druze villages in the Golan Heights have in the past expressed support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, leading Israeli intelligence to conclude that Hezbollah would not have deliberately targeted Majdal Shams, Kara said.
“Hezbollah made a big mistake,” he added, noting the condolences that poured in from Druze leaders around the region. “They are afraid that Druze in their countries will turn against them.”
Sectarian strife in Lebanon
“This attack can cause friction and a sectarian conflict between Hezbollah and the Druze in Lebanon, who see Hezbollah taking over the country,” Tel Aviv University Professor Uzi Rabi told JNS.
Last month, an Israeli couple was killed by a Hezbollah rocket elsewhere on the Golan Heights. Tens of thousands of Israelis from northern Israel have been evacuated from their homes for more than nine months due to the attacks from Lebanon.
“Israel’s image has been eroded in the region since October 7 and it is time to put some teeth with an out-of-the-box response against Lebanese infrastructure that shows that a country that hosts a terror group will pay a high price,” Rabi said.
“There has always been rifts among the various ethnic groups in Lebanon,” said Tel Aviv University Professor Eyal Zisser. “Each ethnicity hates the other and this will only add to the tension and enmity.”
‘Our October 7’
“This was like our October 7,” said Haill Safadi, a Majdal Shams resident whose nephew was at the soccer match at the time of attack but was uninjured.
Safadi was at Sunday’s mass funeral for the children, including four from one family.
Emotions were raw; villagers accosted Israeli Cabinet ministers who came to pay their respects and shouted: “Why is Beirut still standing?” and, “If you can’t respond [to Hezbollah], let us.”
“From our point of view, the Lebanese government has given Hezbollah free rein to kill our children,” Safadi said. “Hezbollah wants to destroy the State of Israel, and God willing they will be destroyed.”