[News] Golan Heights attack: The claims and counterclaims on Majdal Shams strike

[Anti-Imperialist News]

middleeasteye.net
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/majdal-shams-claims-and-counterclaims-deadly-attack>
Golan Heights attack: The claims and counterclaims on Majdal Shams strike
By MEE staff
July 29, 2024
------------------------------

On Saturday, an explosive slammed into a football pitch in the Golan
Heights' Majdal Shams, killing 12 children.

The apparent attack ratcheted up tensions between Israel
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel>, which occupies the Golan,
and Lebanon's <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/lebanon> Hezbollah,
which began clashing with the Israeli military along the Lebanese border in
October in solidarity with Hamas and the Palestinians
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine> under attack in Gaza
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/israel-war-gaza>.

Though the slain children were not Israeli citizens - Druze that live in
the occupied Syrian territory tend not to take Israeli citizenship - Israel
has blamed Hezbollah and insisted that it will retaliate in Lebanon.

Hezbollah denies it was responsible, saying the children were killed
instead by a misfired Israeli Iron Dome air-defence missile.

Middle East Eye breaks down the claims and counter-claims on the incident
in Majdal Shams.
Israel's claims

Israel has brought forward what it says is evidence
<https://x.com/IDF/status/1817610808844816517>to prove that an Iranian-made
rocket struck the children. Iran is a key backer of Hezbollah, which is the
most powerful non-state military power in the world.

On Sunday, the Israeli army posted pictures
<https://x.com/manniefabian/status/1817605374310072385?s=46&t=ELaDRa2feSkdnjH2Asc8Yg>that
show shrapnel, which it said were found at the scene of the attack and
matched an Iranian-made Falaq-1 rocket.

<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-druze-fighting-gaza-horrifies-lebanon>

Sight of Israeli Druze fighting in Gaza horrifies Lebanon's community

However, none of the images appear to have been taken of the alleged rocket
shrapnel in situ at the blast site.

The Israeli army also published
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-airs-images-it-says-prove-hezbollah-fired-deadly-rocket-that-hit-majdal-shams/>a
map showing what it said was path of the rocket, claiming it was launched
from southeast Lebanon's Shebaa Farms area.

Yet, these claims were refuted by an anonymous Israeli paramedic, who told
al-Araby <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUQy6epd1_Q> TV that witnesses
told him the shrapnel belonged to an Israeli Iron Dome missile.

The paramedic, who was reportedly wearing a Star of David shirt, said he
would be “imprisoned” if he documented his testimony on air. Middle East
Eye was not able to independently verify the claims.

Other witnesses who spoke to al-Araby on condition of anonymity said they
saw the rocket flying from Mount Hermon on the Lebanon-Syrian border
falling towards the football field.

Al-Mayadeen
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/did-an-israeli-iron-dome-missile-cause-the-majdal-shams-mass>,
a Lebanese media outlet with close ties to Hezbollah, published an article
saying the blast site in Majdal Shams was not consistent with the kind
expected after the impact of a Falaq-1 rocket, which it said would have
made a larger crater.

Hezbollah had earlier on Saturday claimed responsibility for four other
attacks before Majdal Shams was struck.
'Could be a mistake'

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib was quoted as telling the BBC
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w172zcx1rq7rnwx>that he doesn’t think
Hezbollah carried out the attack.

“I don’t think Hezbollah would do it… it could be a mistake by the Israelis
or by Hezbollah - I don’t know,” he said.

War on Gaza: Majority in UK, Italy and Spain back ICC warrant against
Israel's Netanyahu

Bouhabib noted that that the movement usually targets military positions,
not civilians.

"We are talking with Hezbollah because the victims are Druze and the Druze
community here [in Lebanon] cares about them a lot. We are asking Hezbollah
not to retaliate at this present time,” Bouhabib told the BBC.

In the aftermath of the Majdal Shams strike, Israeli army spokesperson
Daniel Hagari incorrectly identified
<https://x.com/MiddleEastEye/status/1817577569408971013>the victims as
Israeli citizens, and was heard being corrected by a journalist present at
the briefing.

Majdal Shams is a village located the southern Golan, where about 25,000
Arabic-speaking Druze live. The majority are Syrian members of the Druze
community.

The town has been under Israeli occupation since 1967.
Netanyahu met with protest

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to arrange a meeting for
him with the victims' families, who refused, Haaretz
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-28/ty-article-live/u-s-condemns-horrific-attack-reportedly-highly-concerned-over-all-out-war/00000190-f724-d469-a39d-f7b7cff70000?liveBlogItemId=1155256767#1155256767>
reported.

As Netanyahu visited the site on Monday, a protest
<https://x.com/OrenZiv_/status/1817867362009600183> was organised where
demonstrators were seen carrying signs that read: “Down to the killers of
the children… a war criminal”, in reference to the war on Gaza.

A video <https://x.com/MiddleEastEye/status/1817607448967995835>on Sunday
showed Syrian Druze from Majdal Shams preventing Israeli ministers from
attending the funeral of the children who were killed in the attack. One
person shouted: “Get out of here, you criminal, we don’t want you in the
Golan.”

Netanyahu has pledged a response to the attack and said the Hezbollah will
"pay a heavy price".
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20240729/1a70252c/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: majdal-shams-mourning-family-reuters.jpg.webp
Type: image/webp
Size: 58636 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20240729/1a70252c/attachment-0001.webp>