A group of IDF soldiers stationed in Lebanon managed to mark Purim yesterday, on the third day of the war with Iran, by reading the Megillah (Scroll of Esther).
Footage shared on social media shows the troops in what appears to be a dark, narrow corridor reading the ten-chapter scroll to mark the festival, as the sound of gunfire rings out in the background.
Read twice on Purim – once after sundown, when the holiday begins, and once the following day – the Megillah tells the story of the Jews’ defeat of a high-ranking Persian official, Haman, who intended to annihilate the Jewish people around 2,500 years ago.
Some social media users have drawn comparisons between the Purim tale and the current war against the Iranian regime, which has repeatedly vowed to eradicate Israel.
Purim sameach!
— The Jewish Chronicle (@JewishChron) March 3, 2026
Below: IDF soldiers read the Megillah, which is read to commemorate the victory of the Jewish people over Haman, in Southern Lebanon as they prepare
to go to war with Hezbollah. pic.twitter.com/DP1cNIOIOm
Traditionally the Megillah is written by a sofer (Hebrew scribe) on a parchment scroll slightly smaller than a Torah scroll. It is a mitzvah to read it or listen to it being read on Purim, to remember how the Jews survive in times of aggression.
IDF troops are currently stationed in Lebanon after the terror group Hezbollah – Iran’s proxy in the country – launched rocket attacks on northern Israel.
The IDF confirmed yesterday that an Israeli strike on Beirut killed Hussein Makled, the head of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters.
The IDF said: “He closely cooperated with senior commanders in Hezbollah who planned and advanced terror attacks against Israel and its citizens.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced yesterday the government had prohibited “all of Hezbollah’s security and military activities as being outside the law” and ordered the terrorist group to “hand over its weapons to the Lebanese state".
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