The leader of the Druze community in Israel, Sheikh Muwafaq Tarif, confirmed that the attack on Majdal Shams, which resulted in the deaths of 12 people, did not distinguish between civilian and military. In statements made to Al Arabiya on Sunday, he expressed that the community condemns the killing of children in Majdal Shams in this manner, noting that Israel informed them that the missile was of Iranian origin. He also clarified that "the Druze community lives in Israel and respects the privacy of our people in Lebanon." He continued by saying, "We respect our people in Lebanon and do not interfere in their opinions." He emphasized that "our people in the Golan have the right to say what they want."
Israel vowed on Sunday to "strike the enemy hard" following the fall of a missile, which it attributed to Hezbollah, that killed 12 boys and girls in the occupied Golan Heights, raising fears of an escalation of the ongoing war in Gaza. While Hezbollah, an ally of Iran, denied responsibility for the missile attack on the town of Majdal Shams, Tehran, through its foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani, warned Israel that any new "adventures" in Lebanon could lead to "unforeseen consequences."
According to the Israeli army, a missile fired from Lebanon struck a soccer field in the Druze-majority town of Majdal Shams, resulting in the deaths of 12 individuals aged between 10 and 16, while around 30 were injured. Police reported on Sunday that an 11-year-old boy was still missing.
Israeli officials stated that the attack was carried out using a "Falak" missile with a warhead weighing 53 kg. Hezbollah, which claimed to have "no connection" to the incident, is the only entity that possesses this type of missile. The Israeli army described the event as "the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians" since the Hamas attack on October 7, which sparked the war in Gaza and led to regular cross-border shelling from Lebanon. The strike in the Golan followed hours after officials in Gaza, controlled by Hamas, announced that an Israeli airstrike on a school housing thousands of displaced Palestinians killed at least 30 people. Israel stated that its targets were "terrorists" operating from the school.
