Twelve children and youths were killed, and dozens more people wounded, when a Hezbollah heavy rocket hit near a soccer field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights on Saturday evening.
“The Hezbollah terrorist organization is behind the rocket launch at a soccer field in Majdal Shams which caused multiple civilian casualties, including children, earlier this evening,” the Israel Defense Forces said.
The majority of the casualties in this Hezbollah strike were children. The helicopters are having trouble even evacuating because Hezbollah is firing non-stop rockets
The attack hit a playground and adjacent football field where children were playing. I won’t share the worst… pic.twitter.com/ubioKZBVhy
— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) July 27, 2024
The rocket strike, which occurred at 6:18 p.m., was part of the third barrage fired from Lebanon that evening by the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization, according to the Israeli military.
“All the fatalities are children, aged 10 to 20. We share in the grief of the families and embrace the Druze community in its difficult time,” IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters.
“In the past hour, Hezbollah has been lying and denying responsibility for the incident. Our intelligence is clear: Hezbollah is responsible for the murder of innocent children,” he added.
More than 30 wounded were evacuated to hospitals by Magen David Adom first responders and IDF helicopters.
“We arrived at the soccer field and saw destruction and items on fire,” said MDA medic Idan Avshalom. “Victims were lying on the grass, and the scenes were difficult. We immediately began triaging the injured. During the incident, there were additional [rocket] alerts, and medical treatment for the injured is still ongoing,” he added.
In response to the incident, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moved up his return flight from the United States, according to his office.
“The prime minister will convene the Security Cabinet immediately upon his return to Israel,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Northern Command head Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, Operations Directorate head Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk, Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar and other members of the General Staff were conducting a situational assessment following the attack.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog tweeted, “The terrible and shocking disaster in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the north of Israel is truly heartbreaking. There are no words that can comfort the families of the young victims who lost their lives through no fault of their own.”
He continued, “Hezbollah, armed and funded by Iran, does not distinguish between child or adult, soldier or civilian, Jew or Muslim, Druze or Christian.”
Hezbollah has attacked Israel nearly every day since it joined the war in support of Hamas on Oct. 8, firing thousands of rockets, missiles and explosive drones at Israeli towns. Tens of thousands of Israeli civilians remain internally displaced due to the ongoing violence.
Netanyahu: Israel will not let Hezbollah attack pass in silence
Netanyahu on Saturday night vowed to respond to Hezbollah’s deadly rocket strike on the northern Golan Heights earlier in the day, saying the “horrific” attack would not “pass in silence.”
“Citizens of Israel, like you, I was shocked to see the horrific photos in the wake of Hezbollah’s murderous attack in Majdal Shams. Among those who were murdered are young children who were playing soccer, and others,” said Netanyahu.
“All of our hearts are broken over these sights. We embrace the families and the entire Druze community in its difficult hour, which is also our difficult hour,” he added.
“I can say that the State of Israel will not let this pass in silence,” said the premier.
The prime minister on Saturday night phoned Israeli Druze leader Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif to express his “deep outrage” over the murder of innocent civilians, according to a statement from Jerusalem.
The premier “conveyed heartfelt condolences on behalf of the entire people of Israel to the families of those who were murdered and to the entire Druze community.
He added, “Israel will not overlook this murderous attack and that Hezbollah will pay a heavy price which it has not paid up to now.”
Hezbollah wouldn’t have attacked Israel on his watch, Trump says
“Today’s attack on Israel cannot be forgotten,” former US President Donald Trump wrote on Saturday following the deadly Hezbollah strike. “It will go down as another moment in history created by a weak and ineffective United States president and vice president,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account. “With time, this situation will only get worse for our country.”
The attack must “galvanize the Republican Party, Democrats, independents, conservatives, progressives, Libertarians and everybody else to put strength, respect and power back into the United States,” the Republican nominee for president added. “This attack, just like the attack of Oct. 7, or the Ukraine/Russia War, would have never happened if I were president.”
Trump added that it is a “dangerous and terrible time for the world, and it is almost the entire fault of the incompetent Biden-Harris administration. It must be changed, and quickly.”
Kamala Harris, the US vice president and presumptive Democratic nominee, had not commented on the attack at press time. Neither had US President Joe Biden. The White House National Security Council condemned the attack.
“My heart breaks for the Israelis, including many children, who were killed in Hezbollah’s violent attack against a playground and soccer field in Majdal Shams,” wrote Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), chair of the House Republican Conference. “The images from the attack are a horrific reminder of the barbaric Iranian-backed existential threats that Israel faces daily.”
“Israel has a legal right and moral obligation to protect its civilians from Hezbollah’s attacks,” added the congresswoman, who recently penned a letter with Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) demanding that the Biden administration support Israel’s right to defend its borders against the terror organization. “Israel is on the front lines of Iran’s violent ambition to destroy the west and our shared values.”
“The Biden-Harris administration must immediately end all of the holds they have on weapons shipments to Israel and put pressure on the United Nations to enforce UNSCR 1701 and demilitarize Hezbollah,” Stefanik added. “The Biden-Harris administration’s abdication of leadership on the world stage emboldened Iran and our great ally Israel is facing the consequences. We must return to President Trump’s peace through strength policies.”
Hagerty wrote that it was a “terrible tragedy today in Israel.”
“Rather than unequivocally back Israel’s right to self-defense, the Biden-Harris administration’s constant undermining of Israel is what has empowered Hezbollah’s terrorism,” the senator added. “This is what Rep. Stefanik and I were concerned about.”
“I mourn the at least 10 children killed by a rocket attack in the Druze village of Majdal Shams. This is further evidence that Israelis are under siege by Iran and its proxies including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis,” wrote Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).
“Further, this attack is another example of the Iran-sponsored reign of terror in the north of Israel where tens of thousands have been displaced since Oct. 7. Since Oct. 8, Hezbollah has fired over 6,000 rockets into Israel,” added the congressman, who is seeking his 23rd term.
“Hezbollah must cease these attacks and allow tens of thousands of Israelis to return home,” he said. “I stand with Israel against terror and mourn with the Israeli people. No country can allow its citizens to be under this constant barrage.”
“I’m appalled by this attack from Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist organization, that has now left 11 dead, many children,” wrote Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ). “It’s clear that right now, more than ever, we must stand by our ally Israel in her fight against terrorism.”
“I am disgusted at Hezbollah’s attack on a children’s playground in Majdal Shams, Israel,” wrote Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC). “Iranian terrorist puppets must be destroyed. The United States continues to stand with the Israeli people who are under constant attack.”
“Iran and Hezbollah have done so much damage to Lebanon, and they continue to target civilians in Israel. Today their rockets hit a playground and killed at least 10 children. This is awful, and has to end,” wrote Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio).
“Major military operations in Gaza have come to an end. Yet these deadly attacks continue in the north. Iran and Hezbollah have been attacking northern Israel since Oct. 8. No area is off limits to them. Rarely, in fact, do they target military assets. It’s almost always civilians,” Landsman added. “What does Israel want from Iran and Hezbollah? To stop being attacked. That’s it. If you believe in Israel’s right to exist, please condemn these attacks.”
“We stand with Israel and oppose Hezbollah along with all terrorists who murder innocent people,” wrote Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.).
Devastating war looming
Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote that “the Middle East is now potentially hours away from the most devastating war in its bloody history.”
“A Israel-Hezbollah war would likely yield a shocking number of fatalities and destruction. The United States knew this day would come. Our leaders have failed,” Schanzer wrote. “Hezbollah has fired at Israel since Oct. 8. Israel has wanted to respond, especially after 100,000 citizens were forced from their homes in the north. The Biden White House has restrained the Israelis, but offered no solutions. This moment was inevitable, with Hezbollah unrestrained.”
“So now the question is what the Biden White House will do once the situation escalates. Will they once again take steps to restrain Israel? This is what we have seen consistently in Gaza and Lebanon. This has only emboldened Iran and its proxies,” he added. “Remind me the definition of insanity?”
While athletes from around the world are competing at the #Olympics2024, Hezbollah is murdering the next generation of Israeli athletes.
A group of children enjoying life’s simple pleasures was murdered in cold blood when a Hezbollah rocket hit the soccer field in the Druze… pic.twitter.com/xZVW1so1zS
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) July 27, 2024
Marty Morantz, a Jewish member of the Canadian Parliament, noted that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has yet to comment.
“Today Hezbollah, a terrorist proxy of Iran, bombed a soccer field in a Druze community killing and injuring children. This barbaric attack is pure evil and needs to be widely condemned,” Morantz wrote. “Israel is our ally and yet what do we hear from the prime minister? Nothing, silence. Say something!”
Josep Borrell Fontelles, European Union high representative for foreign affairs, wrote that there were “shocking images from the soccer field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams.”
“I strongly condemn this bloodbath. We need an independent international investigation into this unacceptable incident,” he wrote. “We urge all parties to exercise utmost restraint and avoid further escalation.”
Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran, noted that the EU leader didn’t mention “the word Hezbollah, which the EU still does not designate in its entirety as a terrorist organization.”
“Israel was just attacked, but the EU is calling for restraint,” Brodsky wrote. “It’s like counseling a person who is in the middle of being assaulted with a deadly object to restrain himself.”
Argentinian President Javier Milei stated in Spanish that his office expresses sympathy with the Israeli people following the terror attack. He added that Argentina condemns the threats the Jewish state faces daily in the “most energetic” terms.
Milei noted that Hezbollah was listed as a terror organization in 2019 and Hamas earlier this month on July 12. “This government supports the State of Israel and the actions it must take to defend itself against these attacks,” Milei said. “There is only good and evil, and these cruel acts demonstrate without any doubt who is on the side of evil.”
The Board of Deputies of British Jews stated that it mourns the attack victims.
“I wonder how many people will protest on the streets of western capitals for the 12 Druze (mostly children) killed by Hezbollah in northern Israel today,” wrote Joe Truzman, senior research analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal.
Hezbollah tries to distance itself from Majdal Shams massacre
US intelligence indicates that Lebanon’s Hezbollah fired the missile that killed 12 children and youths in Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights on Saturday evening, according to the Associated Press.
“The Hezbollah terrorist organization is behind the rocket launch at a soccer field in Majdal Shams which caused multiple civilian casualties, including children, earlier this evening,” the IDF said on Saturday night.
IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters at a briefing, “Hezbollah has been lying and denying responsibility for the incident. Our intelligence is clear: Hezbollah is responsible for the murder of innocent children.”
On Sunday, Hagari said that forensic evidence showed the Majdal Shams rocket was an Iranian-made Falaq-1, with a 100-pound warhead, which in Lebanon is used exclusively by Hezbollah.
“This attack shows the true face of Hezbollah—a terrorist organization that targets and murders children playing soccer on a Saturday evening.”
Watch the IDF Spox. RAdm. Daniel Hagari give remarks regarding the deadliest attack on Israel since October 7: pic.twitter.com/4VYuLMnUhb
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) July 27, 2024
Following the strike, the White House National Security Council said that Washington “will continue to support efforts to end these terrible attacks along the Blue Line, which must be a top priority. Our support for Israel’s security is iron-clad and unwavering against all Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah.”
The Biden administration is concerned that the attack could lead to full blown war between Israel and Hezbollah, Axios reported on Saturday.
“What happened today could be the trigger we have been worried about and tried to avoid for 10 months,” a US official was quoted as saying.
Biden’s advisers Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein spoke to Israeli and Lebanese officials after the attack, according to the report.
The Biden administration has rejected Jerusalem’s demand that a diplomatic deal to end the low-intensity conflict with Hezbollah be based on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. Adopted to end the Second Lebanon War in 2006, the resolution calls for a demilitarized zone from the UN-demarcated Israel-Lebanon Blue Line border to the Litani River some 18 miles to the north.
A JNS poll earlier this month found that the vast majority of Israelis believe that the safety of northern residents can only be secured by a diplomatic agreement requiring Iranian-backed Hezbollah to withdraw north of the Litani River.
Hezbollah has attacked the Jewish state’s north nearly every day since joining the war a day after Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, firing thousands of drones, rockets and anti-tank missiles at Israeli towns, killing more than 20 people and causing widespread damage.
With reporting by JNS.
