Attack ‘crossed every possible red and black line’: Israeli Druze fury at Hezbollah

Sheikh Muafek Tarif, spiritual leader of Israel’s 152,000 Druze called the attack ‘cruel and murderous.’

By Pesach Benson, TPS

Israel’s Druze community was reeling in shock after a Hezbollah rocket killed 11 youth and injured another 29 on a soccer field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams on Saturday.

Most of the casualties were between the ages of 10-20. As casualties mounted, so did Druze anger.

“This is a terrible disaster that must not be ignored,” Israeli Druze politician Fateen Mulla told The Press Service of Israel.

“They deliberately targeted a Druze village, knowing that these residents would not be evacuated, and chose to attack a place where children were playing,” the former Knesset member said.

“The State of Israel must respond and eliminate Nasrallah and all the terrorists. If Israel does not act, we will act and restore peace to the entire north. We will not remain silent on this matter,” Mulla stressed.

Sheikh Muafek Tarif, spiritual leader of Israel’s 152,000 Druze called the attack “cruel and murderous.”

“It is impossible to imagine and describe the horror of the children and their broken parts lying on the grass. A reformed country cannot afford continuous harm to its citizens.

This is the ongoing reality in the northern settlements. Tonight, it crossed every possible red and black line,” Tarif added.

After being briefed on the situation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is in the US, advanced his return several hours early, his visit short.

In a conversation with Tarif, Netanyahu “made clear that Israel will not allow the murderous attack to simply pass on by, and that Hezbollah will pay a heavy price for this that it has not paid to this point,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

The strike came hours after an Israeli airstrike destroyed a Hezbollah arms depot in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila. Three Hezbollah operatives were killed in the strike.

Hezbollah initially claimed responsibility twice for firing rockets at an army base on the nearby Mount Hermon, a few hundred meters away from Majdal Shams.

But the Iran-backed terror organization backed off the claim as the casualty count mounted, claiming that the children were killed by an Israeli Iron Dome interceptor.

In response, Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said, “In the last hour, Hezbollah has been lying and denying its responsibility. From our investigation, it is clear that Hezbollah is responsible for the killing of innocent children playing soccer. This is a very serious incident, and we will act accordingly. This is the most severe incident involving civilian casualties since October 7th. We will act to restore safety on the northern border for the sake of all Israeli citizens.”

The army said the rocket was launched from a location north of the of the village of Chebaa in southern Lebanon. According to the IDF, warning sirens sounded, but there wasn’t enough time to take cover.

The military is investigating why the rocket was not intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system.

“We arrived at the soccer field and saw destruction and objects on fire, injured people were lying on the grass and the sights were dire,” said senior Magen David Adom medic Idan Avshalom.

“We immediately started sorting out the injured, some of the injured were taken to local clinics. During the incident there were additional alerts and the medical treatment of the injured is still ongoing.”

While the Israel Defense Forces have not identified what type of rocket was used in the attack, it was not a precision rocket, said Sarit Zahavi, founder and president of the Alma Research and Education Center.

“It’s not surprising that once these weapons are allegedly targeting military bases, they will fall in a nearby community. Hezbollah has accurate weapons, but it chooses again and again and again during this war to launch inaccurate weapons against military bases of the IDF and that puts at risk civilians in the north.”

She added that Hezbollah “fears a Druze response” and now claims the children were killed by an Iron Dome interceptor. Druze make up approximately five percent of the Lebanese population.

The Druze trace their ancestry back to the Biblical figure Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses.

Israeli Druze serve in senior positions in public and military life, and the bond between Jewish and Druze soldiers is referred to as the “covenant of blood.”

The Druze speak Arabic but are not Muslim and are very secretive about their religious beliefs.

The Alma Institute told The Press Service of Israel that Hezbollah rocket barrages on northern Israel are expanding in range, reaching deeper into Israel to unevacuated communities.

Matan Davidian of “Fighting for the North,” which advocates for the nearly 80,000 Israelis forced to evacuate their homes in northern Israel told TPS-IL, “We heard the Prime Minister in Congress say that there is also ‘another way,’ and we say that the blood of our children is not worthless! We call for immediate military action and not to settle for a feeble response.”

Hezbollah leaders have said they will continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes. The attacks have killed 23 civilians and 18 soldiers.

Israeli officials have been calling for Hezbollah to be disarmed and removed from southern Lebanon in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War.

DruzeHezbollahMajdal ShamsRocket Attack