Boy thought missing identified as 12th victim in deadly Majdal Shams rocket attack
Authorities determine Gevara Ebraheem, 11, unheard from since attack, was killed by Hezbollah missile strike on soccer field in Golan Druze town a day earlier
Authorities confirmed late Sunday that a 12th boy was killed in a Hezbollah rocket strike on a soccer field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams a day earlier, adding 11-year-old Jifara Ibrahim to the devastating roster of victims as Israel mulled its response to the attack.
Ibrahim had been considered missing for some 24 hours following the Saturday afternoon strike in northern Israel that killed 11 other children and teenagers, all of whom had been on a soccer field when the Iranian-made rocket impacted, cutting them down before they could make it to safety.
Police said on Sunday evening that new findings at the scene of the strike had confirmed that Ibrahim was also killed, putting an end to his family’s hope that he had fled the scene of the strike and survived, Channel 12 reported.
Ein Qiniyye Regional Council head Wael Mugrabi, a relative of Ibrahim’s, told Channel 12 that the boy had “just disappeared.” The family had initially been told the child was taken to Ziv Medical Center in Safed, but the information turned out to be incorrect, he said.
The mystery surrounding his whereabouts were compounded by the fact that cameras on the soccer field that might have provided clues were destroyed in the blast. Some surmised that his small body may have been obliterated by the blast, making identification difficult.
“The missile probably hit him directly,” a local council member told Ynet. “The soccer instructor said that he was definitely with the entire group of children who were hit.”
Funerals were held Sunday for the other 11 victims, 10 of them in Majdal Shams, on the southern slope of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights, and one in nearby Ein Qiniyye, amid a mix of grief and anger in the devastated Druze community.
Black flags flew on the lampposts of Majdal Shams and the surrounding Druze villages of Buq’ata and Masa’ada, and all local businesses were shuttered on Sunday during the funerals.
Thousands of locals and visitors from beyond the Golan, most wearing black, filled the town center as the victims’ white coffins were led through.
“Lebanon should burn for this,” shouted Samir Halabi, a 52-year-old radio host from Majdal Shams, as he delivered an impromptu and impassioned speech on the soccer field, several yards away from where the rocket struck on Saturday.
At the funeral, the families of the victims stood almost motionless and mostly silent, projecting an image of resilience and restraint that is typical of Druze, a Middle Eastern religious minority known for its distinct traditions, as well as the military prowess of its men.
At a security cabinet meeting Sunday night, ministers authorized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to decide on the scale and timing of Israel’s response to the attack.
Hezbollah said on Saturday that it had launched a Falaq rocket at an IDF base near Majdal Shams, though once reports emerged of civilian casualties in the northern town, the terror group changed course and denied its involvement.
With Israel threatening a harsh reprisal attack and tensions already high following nearly 10 months of almost daily rocket attacks on northern Israel, many in Lebanon were bracing for Israel’s response, amid fears that a Hezbollah retaliation could send the region spiraling toward all out war.
So far, the near-daily border skirmishes have resulted in 24 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 18 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
Hezbollah has named 381 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 68 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.
