Netanyahu met by angry crowd on visit to site of deadly rocket strike in Majdal Shams
As locals call for him to leave, prime minister pledges a ‘harsh response’ against Hezbollah after 12 children killed in Golan Heights on Saturday
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was met by angry demonstrations on Monday as he visited the site of a deadly Hezbollah rocket strike in the Golan Heights town of Majdal Shams that killed 12 children on Saturday.
A crowd of Druze residents dressed in black gathered outside the soccer field where 12 children were killed while Netanyahu toured with local leaders, and chanted in Hebrew for him to leave. A crowd of locals — about ten rows deep — pushed up against barriers as Netanyahu toured the area, some yelling at the premier, calling him a “murderer” and demanding that he leave.
Others held up signs calling Netanyahu a war criminal.
Netanyahu did not acknowledge the demonstrators, instead pledging a “harsh response” against Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terrorist group that has been firing into Israel from Lebanon since October 8.
“Hezbollah, with Iranian backing, launched an Iranian rocket here, which took the lives of 12 pure souls,” he said in a video statement at the site. “Twelve boys and girls who played soccer here and unfortunately could not get to the shelter. The heart is torn apart by the severe tragedy. We embrace the families who are going through indescribable suffering.
“These children are our children, they are all the children of all of us, ” he said. “Israel will not and cannot let this simply pass on by. Our response will come, and it will be harsh.”
אנשי מג'דל שמס מוחים (בצדק) נגד ביבי כשהוא מגיע למקום.. בדומה לתגובה שקיבלו שאר שרי הקואליציה שהגיעו בצביעותם "לנחם" את מי שהפקירו ובמי שבגדו כשתמכו בחוק הלאום.
(להבדיל, כשלפיד הגיע הוא חיבק את התושבים,ניחם אותם ואף נאם בלוויה) pic.twitter.com/nh9REMhPis
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Though Hezbollah has denied involvement in the attack, Israel and the United States have blamed the Lebanese terror group. The IDF has also provided evidence tying Hezbollah to the attack and named the field commander who allegedly ordered it.
Israel has vowed retaliation.
On Sunday night, Israeli ministers authorized Netanyahu and his defense chief Yoav Gallant to decide on the “manner and timing” of the response.
Netanyahu laid a wreath at the site of the attack, saying that Jews and Druze are brothers: “We have a covenant of life, but unfortunately it is also a covenant of moments of bereavement and grief. We embrace you.”
He urged the Druze community not to lose hope, and pledged that Israel will stand by its side, “today, tomorrow and forever.”
The visit was under censorship until he left the town.
Netanyahu also visited with grieving family members, accompanied by officials including Shin Bet director Ronen Bar, Israeli Druze spiritual leader Muafek Tarif, and the heads of the Majdal Shams and Ein Qiniya local councils.
Hezbollah terrorists have been firing rockets into northern Israel since October 8, drawing Israeli reprisal attacks and threatening to widen the conflict between Israel and Hamas beyond Gaza’s borders.
Both Israel and Hezbollah have so far appeared to be avoiding an escalation that could lead to an all-out war that could potentially drag in other powers including the United States and Iran, but Saturday’s attack threatened to tip the standoff into a more dangerous phase.
(AP Photo/Leo Correa)
So far, the 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 383 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some in Syria. In Lebanon, another 68 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.
Two Hezbollah operatives were killed in an Israel Defense Forces drone strike in southern Lebanon on Monday morning.
Lebanese rescue services said three more were wounded, including a child, in the attack between the southern Lebanon towns of Mays al-Jabal and Shaqra.
The IDF did not immediately issue a statement on the reports.
Following the attack, Hezbollah announced the deaths of two members killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli strikes.
Meanwhile, a barrage of rockets was fired Monday from Lebanon at the Gomeh Junction area, just south of Kiryat Shmona, the IDF said.
Hezbollah took responsibility for the attack, claiming to have targeted an Israeli military position in response to the deadly strike near Shaqra.
Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.
