Two years after a Hezbollah terrorist attack killed 12 children in the Druze community of Majdal Shams, the Birthright Israel Foundation announced the construction of eight therapeutic gardens in the area.
The gardens will be built in four local educational institutions, with approximately 1,000 volunteers from the Birthright Israel Volunteer Program expected to take part.
"On October 8, 2023, we accepted the Jews and Israelis as our home. Now, the Jews finally accepted us," Dolan Abu Saleh, Head of the Majdal Shams Municipality, told volunteers arriving in mid-July to work on the first of the gardens.
"Every volunteer we send strengthens the bond between world Jewry and Israel," Elias Saratovsky, President and CEO of Birthright Israel Foundation, stated.
"Majdal Shams shows what that looks like on the ground, and we are grateful to the The David and Meredith Kaplan Foundation for making this project possible. We want to bring tens of thousands more volunteers over the next few years."
Majdal Shams hosts memorial ceremony for victims of Lebanon rocket
In late July, a memorial ceremony was held in Majdal Shams to commemorate the 12 victims of the rocket fired at the village from Lebanon on July 27, 2024.
In addition to the 12 boys and girls aged 10 to 16, who were killed, 34 others were wounded as a result of the strike.
Yoav Etiel contributed to this report.