Ottoman Syria The presence of Druze around Mount Hermon is documented since the founding of the Druze religion in the beginning of the 11th century. According to one version, Majdal Shams was established in 1595 by Druze warlord
Fakhr-al-Din II, in order to strengthen Druze presence in the Hermon mount. Another version says that the Druze families began to settle on the southern slopes of Mount Hermon in the early 18th century. By the late 19th century, Majdal Shams was an important regional center and home of the local Ottoman administrator (Mudir). In times of strife, residents of the surrounding villages travelled to Majdal Shams for safety because of the village's elevation and proximity to a major water source at
Lake Ram. During the winter of 1895, for example, Druze residents of neighboring communities sheltered in Majdal Shams during a local conflict between irregular Druze and
Circassian militias. The Swiss traveler
Burckhardt visited Majdal Shams in 1810. He described the village, which he called Medjel, as situated on a small plain high up in the mountains, with a population of Druzes and four or five Christian families. In 1870, missionaries associated with the
Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America opened a school and church in the town. The mission school operated until 1885, when it was closed by Turkish authorities. Majdal Shams also attracted foreign geologists such as
William Libbey because of the town's proximity to an exposed strata of Jurassic period fossils. Fossils excavated at Majdal Shams were acquired by the American University of Beirut and Harvard University. In 1838,
Eli Smith noted Majdal Shams's population as
Druze and
Christians. Some travelers wrote vivid descriptions of Majdal Shams. Herbert Rix visited the town around 1907, and commented that "The whole place swarms with children, and many of them are so pretty that the traveller is at first greatly attracted to them." James Kean, who wrote about the town in the 1890s, described Majdal Shams as a "remarkable village" and noted that it was "famous for the manufacture of steel blades." Workshops in Majdal Shams continued to make souvenir daggers for European tourists until the 1950s.
French Mandate for Syria and independent Syria 1925 Great Syrian Revolt in a central Majdal Shams square; the Druze leader who led the
Great Syrian Revolt against the French forces Majdal Shams played a significant role in the
Great Syrian Revolt of 1925–1927. In October 1925, a few months after Syrian Druze had begun fighting French forces in the nearby province of
Jabal al-Druze, a group of the town's Druze residents looted local Christian property. Mandate authorities sent troops to restore order, and community leaders contacted the central command of the revolt for assistance defending the town against the French. In response, rebel leader Zaid al-Atrash (brother of
Sultan al-Atrash) led a force of 1,000 men to Majdal Shams. Zaid al-Atrash drove French troops from the area and established a rebel garrison in Majdal Shams to guard the road between
Damascus and
Marjayoun. The garrison housed up to 10,000 rebels until April 1926, when French forces launched a renewed attack on the town. During the assault, French soldiers destroyed much of Majdal Shams and killed approximately 80 residents of the town.
1928–1945 Beginning in the 1930s, Majdal Shams residents and community leaders became involved in political developments in nearby
Mandatory Palestine. During the
1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, traditional leader Assad Kanj Abu Salah proposed forming a local militia to assist the rebels. The plan did not come to fruition; according to conflicting accounts, the militia never formed, or engaged in only a single symbolic attack on the Syria-Palestine border.
Syrian state (1945–1967) During the
1948 Arab–Israeli War, Abu Salah's son Sultan formed a militia of 300 local men. The militia offered to serve as paid mercenaries for Jewish forces, but later volunteered with Palestinian and Arab forces. Majdal Shams was integrated into economic networks that extended into both other parts of Syria, and Lebanon. The town traded local grapes for olives grown in
Fiq, 50 kilometers to the south. Men from Majdal Shams harvested cedar wood in Lebanon, which they manufactured into plows and sold in
Suwayda. In the 1950s, some local residents travelled to Lebanon to work in construction. Residents of Majdal Shams received access to Syrian state services. By the 1960s, there was a public elementary school in Majdal Shams. Residents attended the regional high school and registered marriages at the court in
Quneitra. These institutions served to integrate the community into the broader region and state.
Israeli occupation 1967–1999 between the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights and Syrian territory Since the
Six-Day War in June 1967, Majdal Shams has been under Israeli occupation. As Israel and Syria fortified the ceasefire line, which ran along the eastern edge of Majdal Shams, the community was isolated from the rest of Syria. Many residents were separated from their relatives living or working in Syrian-controlled territory—as many as 50% from at least one sibling, parent, or child. Majdal Shams retained close ties to Syria. Residents frequently gathered at the eastern edge of the village with
bullhorns to shout messages to friends and relatives on the Syrian side of the ceasefire line. Through the 1970s, and often later, many households refused to pay taxes to Israel. In 1981, when the Israeli Knesset formally extended Israeli law to the Golan Heights and attempted to force Israeli citizenship to residents of Majdal Shams, the community
staged a 19-week general strike in protest. Although Israeli troops blockaded the town and offered residents to accept citizen identification cards, the protesters succeeded in convincing the state to classify members of the community as non-citizens. Residents retained the right to apply for Israeli citizenship individually. Many of the Druze who had received I.D. cards denied having voluntarily applied for them, alleging that the Israeli military had forced them to accept the cards and had forcibly confiscated documents proving Syrian citizenship. During the 1970s, a few residents of Majdal Shams received permission to cross the ceasefire line into Syrian-controlled territory, either to rejoin relatives or attend university in Damascus. During the 1990s, large numbers of residents began to receive permission to cross the ceasefire line to conduct religious pilgrimages or attend university. A small number of women also applied to cross the ceasefire line and marry Syrian men. This crossing program was the subject of the film
The Syrian Bride. 2000–2019 From 2008 to 2017,
Dolan Abu Saleh was the appointed head of the
local council. In the elections of 2018, in which many residents chose not to participate, Abu Saleh was elected as mayor with 96% of the vote. His local party won all the seats in the council. Israel appoints the teachers in Majdal Shams, prohibiting pro-Syrian views in schools. Israel also appointed the local council and had imprisoned residents that protested. His party won 6 seats in the council. Following this, the
Jewish Agency,
JFED of North America, and
Keren Hayesod announced 600,000 NIS in donations to the town, stating in a letter, "We see the Druze community as family." A memorial was constructed at the site of the rocket impact. On 15 March 2026, the town held its first Israeli military funeral. Maher Khatar, who had enlisted in the IDF and become a Sgt. First Class in the Combat Engineering corps, was killed during fighting in Southern Lebanon. ==Geography==