[News] Syrian Druze confront 'war criminal' Netanyahu's visit to Majdal Shams

[Anti-Imperialist News]

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/syrian-druze-confront--war-criminal--netanyahu-s-visit-to-ma>
Syrian Druze confront 'war criminal' Netanyahu's visit to Majdal Shams
Al Mayadeen English
July 29, 2024
------------------------------

Residents of the occupied Syrian Majdal Shams village demonstrated against
Netanyahu on Monday and blasted him as a "war criminal" and "child killer".
[image: cfb556f9-cb40-414e-87b0-ee64f40479d8.jpg]

   - A local woman holds a poster as she and hundreds of others demonstrate
   against the Israeli Prime Minister during his visit to the occupied village
   of Majdal Shams in the Israel-occupied Syrian Golan Heights on July 29,
   2024. (*AFP*)

Syrian residents of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan
attempted to kick out Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from the
village, calling him a "fascist" and a "criminal", the *Syrian Arab News
Agency* (SANA) reported.

Netanyahu had arrived in Majdal Shams, where a vicious strike killed 12
children on the town's football field, alongside a convoy of high-ranking
security officials.

Yesterday, his Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was confronted by the
town's residents who accused the far-right official of making use of their
children's blood.

Netanyahu, Israeli officials, and politicians are accusing the Islamic
Resistance in Lebanon of firing a rocket at the town, a claim that
Hezbollah categorically rejects.

The Israeli Prime Minister spoke from the football field on Monday,
pledging a "harsh response".

Netanyahu and other officials have seized the opportunity, provided by the
atrocious massacre, weaponizing it in order to justify a presumably intense
aggression on Lebanon.

"Hezbollah, with Iranian backing, launched an Iranian rocket here, which
took the lives of 12 pure souls," Netanyahu said as he built up a
justification for a controversial attack on Lebanon.

Netanyahu also said that his "heart is torn apart by the severe tragedy,"
failing to realize his responsibility for the blood of at least 16,000
Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip.

*Read more: Did an Israeli Iron Dome missile cause the Majdal Shams
massacre?
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/did-an-israeli-iron-dome-missile-cause-the-majdal-shams-mass>*
How did the residents of Majdal Shams confront Netanyahu?

*Al Mayadeen*'s correspondent in the occupied territories reported that
Netanyahu arrived in Majdal Shams at around 2:00 pm (local time) and was
received by the town's council chief in a local administrative building.
Netanyahu entered through the back door of the building to avoid being
seen.

It is worth noting that the chief is appointed by the Israeli occupation's
government.

After news had gotten around to the town's residents, hundreds gathered
outside the said building, protesting Netanyahu's visit to the occupied
Syrian town.

The demonstrators berated the Israeli Prime Minister, denouncing him as a
"child killer" and a "criminal".
[image: 375de642-ab4f-4ac3-b999-3bdd9bd05710.jpg]

   - Local Syrian Druze protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
   who arrived in the occupied village of Majdal Shams, in the
   Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan, on July 29, 2024. (*AP*)

Netanyuahu's visit to the town did not last for more than 15 minutes,
locals told *Al Mayadeen*, after the incident had enraged residents who
refused to receive the Israeli Prime Minister.

*Al Mayadeen* also found that several locals refused to allow Israeli
occupation forces to use their homes and rooftops as guarding points on
Monday morning, ahead of Netanyahu's arrival.

The residents were told that an official would visit the town, however, the
official's identity was not revealed to locals until it was reported in
Israeli media outlets.

The Israeli newspaper *Haaretz *said the representatives of some of the
families that fell victim to the attack on Majdal Shams refused to meet
with Netanyahu.

Authorities attempted to arrange a meeting between the Prime Minister and
the victims' families, but it failed due to the families' refusal.

*Read more: Hezbollah told UN 'Israel' was behind Golan strike as US
warmongers
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hezbollah-told-un--israel--was-behind-golan-strike-as-us-war>*
Syrian government denounces Israeli-committed crime in Majdal Shams

On its part, the internationally recognized sovereign over the Golan
Heights, the Syrian government
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/syria-condemns-israeli-aggression-on-majdal-shams>,
condemned the "heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation," which it
pointed out usurps territories and the rights of peoples.

"It is an attempt to fabricate lies and excuses to expand the circle of
aggression against the peoples of the region and to escape the predicament
caused by the resistance faced by this occupation in the Gaza Strip," the
Syrian government added.

"We are confident that the crimes of the occupation will not undermine the
determination of our steadfast and resistant people in the occupied Syrian
Golan, nor will they weaken their national will and adherence to their
Syrian Arab identity and their resistance to the occupation.”

Syria, through its government, offered its heartfelt condolences to the
people of Majdal Shams for the "martyrs who watered the soil of the dear
homeland with their pure blood."

*Read more: Lebanon's Jumblatt urges unity as 'Israel' tries to sow discord
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/lebanon-s-jumblatt-urges-unity-as--israel--tries-to-sow-disc>*
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