Victims of Majdal Shams attack Syrians, not Israelis
The Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari has condemned the air attack on Majdal Shams, saying that the victims were Israeli citizens.
Mouin Rabbani, an analyst at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies in Montreal, said the statement was incorrect.
“The victims were not Israelis, they were Syrians,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that the Golan Heights were occupied by Israel in 1967 but that the Druze population there does not hold Israeli citizenship.
Israel claimed that the attack was carried out by Hezbollah, which the group has denied. “Israel has for months been threatening a major offensive in Lebanon and the Israeli public also feels strongly that the government should deal with the threat of Hezbollah before a new school year begins in September,” Rabbani said.
It is “entirely plausible”, the analyst added, that the attack will trigger an escalation, for which Netanyahu may have gotten a green light from the US during his trip to Washington, DC.
Israel’s Ben-Gvir says ‘red line’ crossed in Majdal Shams
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has said that a “red line” has been crossed in the Majdal Shams attack, adding that this should be allowed “no more”. The far-right minister referred to the bond between the Druze and Jewish communities, which he said was commonly referred to as a “covenant of blood” and a “life covenant”.
He extended his condolences to the families of the victims for the “severe disaster that befell us all”.
Iranian ambassador says Tehran does not expect wider war in Lebanon
Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, has said that Tehran “does not expect” a wider war in Lebanon, amid fears of a possible escalation after the attack on the occupied Golan Heights which Israel blamed on Hezbollah.
Amani also said that Iran does “not want” but does “not fear” an escalation, and that its enemies know what it can do to protect the “resistance” in the region.
‘Lebanon should burn,’ Israeli energy minister says
Israel’s Minister of Energy Eli Cohen has said that “Lebanon should burn” after the attack that killed 11 young people in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, in the occupied Golan Heights.
“We must take significant action in the north, which will exact a heavy price on Lebanon and Hezbollah,” Cohen said on X.
“What cruel terrorist organisation shoots at playing children?”, he added, before extending his condolences to all those “who lost their loved ones today”.
UNIFIL ‘more concerned than ever’ about Lebanon-Israel escalation
The United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) has sounded the alarm about a possible escalation in the war between Israel and Lebanon, which has so far been largely confined to the border areas.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told Al Jazeera Arabic that the peacekeeping force was “more concerned than ever about the possibility of the conflict expanding in southern Lebanon” following the attack on Majdal Shams.
Tenenti said his team was communicating with actors on both sides of the border to reduce tensions at the Blue Line, which divides Lebanon from Israel and the Golan Heights.
Israel’s Gantz says time to strike deal in Gaza, open new front with Lebanon
Former war cabinet member Benny Gantz has said that the time has come to reach a deal in Gaza for the release of captives and open a new front with Hezbollah.
“The government will be afforded wide support from outside the government for any determined and effective response that will restore security to the citizens of the north,” he said on X.
Gantz referred to the victims of the occupied Golan Heights attack as “innocent Israeli children in the Druze village of Majdal Shams”, despite the residents not holding Israeli citizenship.
The timing of this atrocity is mighty suspicious. Though most likely it's a stray rocket. It's a small miracle it took this long before a disastrous mishap happened. Shows all the more that Israel's regular 'mishaps' in Gaza aren't accidents.
