Photo: Residents gather on the soccer field in Majdal Shams on Sunday following the rocket attack that killed 12 children. Credit: Avishag Shaar-Yashuv/New York Times.
Village’s Anguish Over 12 Children Lost to a Rocket Strike
According to New York Times on Monday, July 29, 2024, Majdal Shams, a Druse Arab village in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, was enveloped in a stunned hush of collective mourning following a rocket strike from Lebanon.
The rocket struck just inside a chain-link fence on the sideline of the village’s small soccer field, where the children of Majdal Shams wait their turn to play or simply sit and watch.
On Sunday, a day after the devastating strike, a small crater was visible about halfway between the goals, surrounded by scorched turf. Nearby, a fortified concrete bomb shelter was marked by shrapnel and its entrance was speckled with blood.
The warning siren for incoming rocket fire sounded at about 6:18 p.m. on Saturday. However, the strike hit within seconds, giving residents no time to seek shelter.
Jwan Willy, 14, was standing by one of the goalposts, watching a training session. “I thought of running toward the shelter,” he said. “But having grown used to the sirens during months of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, I stayed where I was.”
Twelve children, Druse Arab boys and girls aged 10 to 16, were killed by the blast. Dozens more were injured and taken to hospitals.
Israel blamed the attack on Hezbollah, which denied responsibility, and struck targets in Lebanon on Sunday in what was seen as a restrained initial response. The Israeli military noted that the type of rocket used in the attack is Iranian-made and carries more than 50 kilograms of explosives. “Hezbollah is the only group in Lebanon that possesses such rockets,” the military stated.
