Katherine Hearst
Middle East Eye / July 30, 2024
In a statement, Majdal Shams residents object the shedding of a ‘single drop of blood’ in the names of the 12 children killed in weekend attack
Residents of Majdal Shams, a Syrian-Druze town in the occupied Golan Heights that was hit by a deadly rocket strike, have issued a statement rejecting any retaliatory Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
On Saturday 27 July, a projectile struck a football pitch in the community, killing 12 children and wounding 30 others.
The apparent attack has ratcheted tensions between Israel, which occupies the Golan Heights, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has been exchanging fire with Israeli forces along the border since 8 October.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry blamed Hezbollah for the strike, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing a “harsh” response to the alleged attack.
Hezbollah denied responsibility. A source in the group told Al Jazeera on Tuesday they would “definitely respond to any Israeli aggression”.
On Sunday, the Israeli military said it carried out a series of strikes across Lebanon on what it claimed were Hezbollah targets.
But members of the Druze community, many of whom have refused Israeli citizenship, said they rejected any retaliatory aggression by Israel.
In a statement issued by the Religious and Temporal Commission in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, residents said they opposed “attempts to exploit Majdal Shams’ name as a political platform, at the expense of the blood of our children”.
“Based on our Arab, Islamic, monotheistic beliefs, we reject that a single drop of blood be shed in the name of revenge for our children,” the statement added.
During a visit to Majdal Shams on Monday, Netanyahu was greeted by a crowd of angry residents who chanted in Hebrew for him to leave.
A video on Sunday showed Syrian Druze barring several Israeli politicians from attending the children’s funeral, including members of the Israeli parliament and far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Residents were reportedly heard shouting “get out of here, you criminal” to Smotrich.
Katherine Hearst is a writer, film maker and organiser
