June 2025
July 27, 2024 was a beautiful summer’s day in the northern Israeli Druze town of Majdal Shams. Late afternoon and the promise of twilight brought relief from the heat of the day as hundreds of friends, families and neighbors from the tight-knit community gathered around one of the town’s soccer pitches for a junior league match. The players, all children, proudly sported their league jerseys. As the whistle blew to signal the start of the game, fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents and siblings cheered loudly to urge on the youngster they came to support. Little did this carefree crowd know that a nightmare was about to descend upon the small community.
Kilometers away in southern Lebanon, a group of Hezbollah terrorists who escaped detection loaded a Falaq-1 missile into a mobile vehicle rocket launcher. They primed the 110-pound (50-kg.) warhead and then fired, sending the harbinger of death soaring into neighboring Israel.
Due to the proximity of Majdal Shams to the Lebanon border, the Code Red siren was only able to give a few seconds warning before the missile found its target. At 6:18 p.m., the Iranian-made missile slammed into the soccer pitch, igniting a fireball of shrapnel following by a gruesome rain of severed body parts and blood. The town shook with the explosive impact.
Can you imagine the desperate heartbreak as frantic parents clamored onto the soccer pitch? As their frenzied brains registered the massive crater where the rocket struck surrounded by pools of blood and human remains? As their eyes combed through the lifeless bodies, seeking a sign of life?
When the clamor finally faded to mute shock, the death toll was confirmed. Twelve children between the ages of 10–16 were murdered, while 38 were wounded. These innocent children had been playing soccer in front of their parents when the carnage wrought by a terrorist missile violently snuffed out their lives.
All of Israel wept together, but none grieved as deeply as the people of Majdal Shams. In such a tight-knit community, every family lost a loved one, with many families mourning more than one loss. In an instant, twelve sets of parents lost the greatest gems any parent could hope for—their children.
An outpouring of love and support came from all over Israel and around the world as people watched the funerals for the 12 children days later. Parents spoke of how Israelis traveled from far and wide to bring warm hugs and messages of love. Thousands of Druze gathered in Majdal Shams to carry the caskets of their sons and daughters. Large pictures all around the town showed the beaming faces of the young victims in life. Mothers wailed loudly. Fathers stood with ashen faces as silent tears ran in rivulets down sunken cheeks.
At Bridges for Peace, we deeply felt the pain of the people of Majdal Shams, and wanted to respond in a tangible way to bring love and light into this broken community. Shortly after the tragedy, our Education Director Ilse Strauss visited the grief-stricken community to hear from its leaders. As we prayed about how to respond, God provided an answer.
A month before the Majdal Shams attack, we joined forces with Rev. Majed El Shafie, founder of One Free World International (OFWI), an organization that demonstrates practical love and assistance to persecuted individuals around the world. After the Hamas invasion and slaughter of Israelis on October 7, 2023, Rev. Majed began producing a documentary, Dying to Live, to tell the story of the October 7 massacre. The film would feature Israeli survivors, family members of hostages, those who lost a loved one and soldiers on the front line. In addition, I had the honor of being one of the expert voices who were interviewed for the documentary. Bridges for Peace partnered with OFWI on this project, and thanks to the trust and friendships that were formed, a door was opened: the door to bless the people of Majdal Shams.
Last month, our BFP Operations Director Daniel Kirchhevel and Ilse accompanied Rev. Majed on a visit to Majdal Shams to meet with key people in the community.
They had the honor of talking with Naela, the mother of 11-year-old Alma Ayman Fakher Alden, one of three young girls murdered on the soccer field that day. Naela told our team that Alma had adored soccer. In fact, her dream was to play at a professional level for Bayern Munich, one of Germany’s most prestigious teams. At such a tender young age, Alma was committed to working towards that goal and had even learned German.
A few weeks before the missile strike, Alma and her family enjoyed what Naela called “a gift.” The family travelled to Munich, Germany for a holiday, and Alma insisted on rooming with her mother. The two were able to spend quality time together and make invaluable mother–daughter memories that Naela now keeps tucked safely in her heart.
“Alma was very brave,” Naela said, smiling through the tears. She recalled that on the day of the attack, Alma had informed her brothers that she was not afraid of the rockets.
Next, our team met with Jihan Safadi, principal of Al-Manahil School. Jihan spoke of the unspeakable grief of multiple children from one school dying violently and the trauma the students have suffered. From one class alone, she explained, three students died. She spoke of the empty desks, the vacant stares, the nightmares. It had only been nine months since that horrific day, and the pain was still raw. However, the school was committed to help the children heal.
Principal Safadi presented a plan to honor the lives of the 12 murdered children by building a therapeutic garden. The mourning students will be active participants in designing and creating the memorial, featuring bright flowers, trees, benches, a walking path and an outside structure for classes. It would be a place of healing, calm and growth.
Bridges for Peace and OFWI immediately pledged to make the interactive memorial a reality. The garden’s message would be loud and clear, “The people of Majdal Shams are not alone in their grief. Christians from around the world will surround them with love.”
Will you be one of those Christians? I want to reach out to you in this hour and ask you to demonstrate your love by giving a financial gift to our Victims of Terror fund so that we may bless the people of Majdal Shams through the memorial in the memory of Naela’s daughter, Alma, and the other eleven children? Will you help us bring light in the darkness and hope for the future amid sorrow?
With deep gratitude,
Rev. Peter Fast
International CEO
Victims of Terror
As we answer God’s call to comfort those who mourn, will you help us provide tangible aid and emotional support to those in need?
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