Thousands of mourners gathered for the funerals of ‘at least 12’ children killed by a Hezbollah rocket attack on a football field on the Israel-controlled Golan Heights.
The Israeli military said they were struck on Saturday by an Iranian-made rocket that Lebanon’s Hezbollah group fired at a football field in the Druze Arab town of Majdal Shams.
Local authorities said that 12 children aged between 10 and 16 years were killed in the attack, with several more in critical condition as 20 were wounded.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning that Hezbollah ‘will pay a heavy price, one that it has not paid so far’, according to his office, while IDF chief Herzi Halevi said the attack ‘will result in a very, very significant reaction’.
Hezbollah chief spokesman Mohammed Afif said that the group ‘categorically denies carrying out an attack on Majdal Shams’ – an outright denial of an attack that is unusual for the group.
Footage from the funeral processions today showed weeping men carrying small coffins through the crowded narrow streets of the town, which came to a standstill as residents were mourning the children.
A young woman was crying at the funeral of one of 12 children killed in the rocket strike
Thousands of mourners gathered for the funerals of ‘at least 12’ children killed by a Hezbollah rocket attack on a football field on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights
Mourners carry the coffin of a little girl killed in a rocket strike on a football field in Majdal Shams
Druze women mourn by a coffin during a funeral of a child killed in a rocket strike from Lebanon a day earlier, in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights, on July 28, 2024
Footage from the funeral processions showed weeping men carrying small coffins through the crowded narrow streets of the town, which came to a standstill as residents were mourning the children
The Druze follow an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Hundreds of men dressed in traditional attire, including white caps topped with red, attended the ceremonies, while others lined balconies to look down on the procession of white-covered caskets with white roses and gypsophila resting on top.
Under a scorching sun, some mourners carried large photos of the dead children, including one boy wearing a suit.
Earlier, several women dressed in black abaya robes cried as they laid flowers on the caskets, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene.
‘Every night, every day, every minute we are worried. It’s been like this for 10 months,’ Laith, a 42-year-old nurse who gave only his first name, said.
Since October when war in the Gaza strip began, Israeli forces and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement have regularly exchanged fire over the border.
‘Everybody you see here is worried all the time,’ Laith said. ‘We are so very sad. We lost children, children playing soccer.’
It is the first time Majdal Shams has experienced such a loss during the war and it has hit hard, said Fadi Mahmud, 48, who works in construction sector.
‘Our community is very close-knit. These children are like children of everybody in the village,’ he said.
Checkpoints have been set up at the entrance to every village in the Golan.
Israel’s military called Saturday’s rocket strike a ‘very serious’ incident with their military chief spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, describing it the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians since the Hamas attack on October 7 that triggered the war in Gaza.
‘There is no doubt that Hezbollah has crossed all the red lines here, and the response will reflect that,’ Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Israeli Channel 12. ‘We are nearing the moment in which we face an all-out war.’
A woman is crying as she attends the funeral ceremony for the people, killed in rocket attack on Golan Heights in Majdal Shams, Israel, on July 28, 2024
Devastated family members are crying as they attend the funeral of the children killed in the attack
Mourners attend a funeral for ten of the victims of yesterday’s rocket attack on July 28, 2024 in Majdal Shams, Golan Heights
A man stands near a damaged gate around a football pitch after a reported strike from Lebanon fell in Majdal Shams village in the Israeli-annexed Golan area on July 28, 2024
At least 11 people, between the ages of 10 and 20, have been killed after a rocket attack on a football field in Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Israeli media reports
The rocket hit a football field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, where 11 people were initially reported as wounded (pictured: Medics transporting the injured from the site)
Israeli security forces and medics treat a casualty as local residents gather at the scene
Hagari has since confirmed the IDF are preparing to respond to the Lebanese militant group, stating: ‘We will act’.
But Ziyad, 63, who gave only a first name, said Majdal Shams doesn’t want to see an escalation.
‘Most people want to be in their house and deal with their grief. This is what is needed as opposed to overreacting,’ he said.
Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the attack branding Israel‘s accusations as ‘categorically’ ‘false allegations’.
The British Foreign Secretary has condemned a rocket strike in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
David Lammy tweeted: ‘The UK condemns the strike in Golan Heights that has tragically claimed at least 12 lives.
‘We are deeply concerned about the risk of further escalation and destabilisation. We have been clear Hizballah must cease their attacks.’
In Majdal Shams many residents have not accepted Israeli nationality since Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967.
Violence since October has killed at least 527 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally. Most of the dead have been fighters, but the toll includes at least 104 civilians.
According to Israel’s army, 22 soldiers and 24 civilians have been killed so far in northern Israel.
The aerial attack came hours an Israeli strike in Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon that killed four with several being members of Hezbollah, according to Reuters and a statement from the group.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari called it the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians since the Hamas attack on October 7
The Israeli Defence Force have blamed Hezbollah for the strike, but the Lebanese militant group have since denied accusation
Soldiers gather as people cover an injured person with a blanket at the site where a projectile hit the football pitch in Druze, Majdal Shams
Israeli medical staff and forces transporting a casualty form the football pitch to an ambulance
Footage aired on Israeli Channel 12 showed a large blast in one of the valleys in the Golan Heights town, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed in 1981.
Video showed paramedics rushing stretchers off of young people wearing sports shirts from the football pitch towards waiting ambulances.
‘These were kids at a soccer field,’ Beni Ben Muvchar, head of the local council, told Israeli Channel 12 on Saturday. ‘Today a red line was crossed.’
‘We witnessed great destruction when we arrived at the soccer field, as well as items that were on fire,’ said Magen David Adom medic Idan Avshalom.
‘There were casualties on the grass and the scene was gruesome.’
Another witness said: ‘It landed in the soccer pitch, all of them are children. Many bodies and remains are in field we don’t know who they are.’
Ha’il Mahmoud, a resident of Majdal Shams, told Channel 12 that children were playing soccer when the rocket hit the field.
He said a siren was heard seconds before the rocket hit, but there was no time to take shelter.
Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire since October 8 – a day after Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel.
The Israeli military said in a statement on Saturday that according to intelligence in its possession, ‘the rocket launch toward Majdal Shams was carried out by the Hezbollah terrorist organisation’.
Hezbollah claimed at least four attacks, including with Katyusha rockets, in retaliation for the Kfar Kila attacks.
Residents helping injured children, moments after a rocket attack hit the Druze town of Majdal Sham
Israeli officials responding to the scene were 11 children and teenagers were killed
An Israeli ambulance returning from Majdal Shams after the air strike on the football field
An Israeli Apache military helicopter waiting before evacuating people injured from the scene
However senior Hezbollah media representative Mohammad Afif has denied responsibility for the strike on Majdal Shams.
In a written statement, the group said: ‘The Islamic Resistance has absolutely nothing to do with the incident, and categorically denies all false allegations in this regard.’
Following the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short his US visit – where he met president Joe Biden, vice-president Kamala Harris, and Donald Trump.
‘Immediately upon learning of the disaster, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed that his return to Israel be brought forward as quickly as possible,’ his office said.
Lebanon’s government in a statement, without mentioning Majdal Shams, urged ‘immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts’ and condemned all attacks on civilians.
The scene was cornered off by Israeli officials (pictured)
A man walking among the charred rubble following the aerial attack
Another man sitting nearby the devastation
People look at the damage left in the area after the projectile landed on the field
Pictured two charred bikes after the aerial attack. Hezbollah have denied any involvement
Tel Aviv city hall is lit up with Druze flag colors in tribute of people who were killed at a football pitch
The White House National Security Council also condemned the attack without directly blaming Hezbollah.
They said that the US ‘will continue to support efforts to end these terrible attacks along the Blue Line, which must be a top priority’.
The statement continued: ‘Our support for Israel’s security is iron-clad and unwavering against all Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah.’
Saturday’s violence comes as Israel and Hamas are weighing a ceasefire proposal that would wind down the nearly 10-month war and free around 110 hostages who remain captive in Gaza.
Hamas’ surprise attack on October 7 killed some 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage.
Israel launched an offensive that has killed more than 39,000 people, according to local health authorities.
Since early October, Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed more than 450 people, mostly Hezbollah members, but also around 90 civilians and non-combatants.
On the Israeli side, 44 have been killed, at least 21 of them soldiers.
War with Israel would deepen Lebanon’s myriad crises
The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel is unfolding against a backdrop of financial and political crises in Lebanon, adding to the risks for the fragile country should hostilities spiral into full-blown war.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October.
The chances of an escalation increased after Israel said it would strike hard against Hezbollah, accusing the group of killing 12 children and teenagers in a rocket attack on a football field in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Hezbollah denied any responsibility for the attack.
Though the conflict has been relatively contained so far, it is weighing heavily on a country where five years of domestic crises have hollowed out the state. The conflict has forced some 95,000 people to flee southern Lebanon, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Here’s an overview of Lebanon’s troubles:
ECONOMIC MELTDOWN
Lebanon is still suffering after a catastrophic financial collapse that rocked the country in 2019.
Caused by decades of profligate spending and corruption in the ruling elite, the meltdown sank the currency, toppled the banking system, paralysed the state, and fuelled poverty and the biggest wave of emigration since the 1975-90 civil war.
The World Bank has described it as one of the sharpest depressions of modern times. Lebanon’s economy shrank from $55 billion in 2018 to $31.7 billion in 2020. The government has yet to enact reforms needed for recovery.
People with plastic gallons wait in line at a petrol station in Beirut on June 11, 2021. Lebanon is struggling with major shortages of medical supplies and fuel, leaving motorists queuing for hours at gas stations across the country
The lingering damage was captured in a World Bank report in May that found poverty had more than tripled in Lebanon over the past decade, reaching 44% of the population (file image of Lebanese pound banknotes)
Public sector workers, their salaries decimated, are among those still feeling the impact. Aid from Qatar and the United States has given a slight boost to the wages of the Lebanese army, long seen as vital to preserving the civil peace.
The lingering damage was captured in a World Bank report in May that found poverty had more than tripled in Lebanon over the past decade, reaching 44% of the population.
It found that one in three Lebanese was poverty-stricken in 2022 in five surveyed governorates, including Beirut. While new Beirut restaurants serve the rich, the World Bank report said three out of five households had cut back on food spending.
The International Monetary Fund said in May a lack of action on necessary economic reforms continued to exert a heavy toll on the economy and people. It said there was no credible and financially viable strategy for the banking system.
POLITICAL TENSIONS
Lebanon has not had a head of state or a fully empowered cabinet since Michel Aoun’s term as president ended in October 2022, leaving an unprecedented vacuum.
The government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati has been serving in a caretaker capacity since then.
Filling the presidency and installing a fully empowered government requires a deal among Lebanon’s deeply divided factions. Previous such crises have only been resolved through foreign mediation, but there has been no sign of effective intervention this time.
On one level, the standoff reflects rivalries among Maronite Christians, for whom the presidency is reserved under Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system.
On another, it reflects a power struggle between the Shi’ite movement Hezbollah – which propelled its ally Aoun to the presidency in 2016 – and opponents who have long opposed the group’s possession of arms.
Hezbollah’s critics say the group has once again unilaterally embroiled Lebanon in conflict.
The government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati (pictured) has been serving in a caretaker capacity since then
SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS
Thirteen years since Syria’s conflict broke out, Lebanon remains home to the largest refugee population per capita in the world: about 1.5 million Syrians – half of whom are refugees formally registered with the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR – in a country of approximately 4 million Lebanese.
Funding for the Syria crisis is dropping, reflecting fatigue among donors grappling with other conflicts around the world.
Despite their differences, parties from across Lebanon’s political spectrum agree the Syrians should be sent home
Syrian refugees gather as they prepare to leave the Arsal area, before their journey to their homes in Syria, at Arsal in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, May 14, 2024
