Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine), 30.07.2024
This article is based on a report by Middle East Eye[i]
The Zionists are blaming Hezbollah for the tragedy in Majdal Shams in the occupied Syrian Heights, where 12 children were killed. Hezbollah denies that it fired the rocket that killed these children.
The spokesperson for the Zionist army, Daniel Hagari, claimed that the 12 children were Israelis, but the slain children were not Israeli citizens. Druze, who live in the occupied Syrian territory, tend not to take Israeli citizenship. Hezbollah is saying that a misfired Israeli Iron Dome air-defense missile killed the children.
Israel has presented what it says is evidence to prove that an Iranian-made rocket struck the children. Iran backs powerful Hezbollah.
The Zionist army posted pictures that show shrapnel, which it said were found at the scene that matched an Iranian-made Falaq-1 rocket. But none of the images appear to have been taken of the alleged rocket shrapnel at the blast site. The Zionist army also published a map showing what it said was the path of the rocket, claiming it was launched from southeast Lebanon’s Shebaa Farms area. Yet, this is not a video showing the path but an arrow on the map drawn by a person. In addition, these claims were refuted by an anonymous Israeli paramedic, who told al-Araby TV that witnesses told him the shrapnel belonged to an Israeli Iron Dome missile. The paramedic, 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 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 much larger crater.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib was quoted as telling the BBC that he doesn’t think Hezbollah carried out the attack.
In the aftermath of the Majdal Shams strike, Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari incorrectly identified the victims as Israeli citizens and was heard being corrected by a journalist present at the briefing. Majdal Shams is a village located in the southern Golan, where about 25,000 Arabic-speaking Druze live. The majority are Syrian members of the Druze community.
As Netanyahu visited the site on Monday, a protest was organized where demonstrators were seen carrying signs that read: “Down to the killers of the children… a war criminal”, about the war on Gaza.
A video 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.”
“The Zionist war criminals try to incite the Druze against Hezbollah. However, former leader of Lebanon’s Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, emphasized on Saturday the need for vigilance against Israeli efforts to ignite conflicts, extending his heartfelt condolences to the families of the martyrs who perished in the occupied Syrian Golan.Jumblatt, a Druze leader, remarked that in light of Hezbollah’s statement denying the involvement of the Islamic Resistance in the bombing that killed at least 11 Druze Syrians living in the occupied Syrian territories, everyone must be aware of the Israeli occupation’s attempts to sow discord.He called on the people in Lebanon and the occupied Golan Height to be cautious of “any provocation or incitement within the enemy’s destructive agenda.”[ii]
Endnotes:
[i] https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/mee-staff
[ii] https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/lebanon-s-jumblatt-urges-unity-as–israel–tries-to-sow-disc