Thousands have lined the streets of Majdal Shams for the funerals of ten of the 12 children killed by a Hezbollah rocket attack on Saturday.
Small, white coffins were processed through the Druze town in the Golan Heights as young people carried flower wreaths and photos of their friends and relatives.
It came as Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, warned of “all-out war” in an interview with Channel 12. “There is no doubt that Hezbollah has crossed all the red lines here and the response will reflect that,” he said.
"We are nearing the moment in which we face an all-our war.”
Druze elders and mourners surround the coffins of 10 of the 12 people killed in a rocket strike from Lebanon (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)
Eleven of the victims will be buried in Majdal Shams, and the 12th victim will be laid to rest in Ein Qinya. Forty-two people are still hospitalised from the deadly attack.
Eleven of the 12 victims have been publicly identified, with the youngest just ten years old and the oldest 16: Ameer Rabeea Abu Saleh, 16; Hazem Akram Abu Saleh, 15; Alma Ayman Fakher Eldin, 11; Milar Muadad Sha'ar, 10; Vinees Adham Al-Safadi, 11; Naji Taher Halabi, 11; Johnny Wadeea Ibrahim, 13; Yazan Nayeif Abu Saleh, 12; Iseel Nasha'at Ayoub, 12; Fajer Laith Abu Saleh, 16; and Nathem Fakher Saeb.
Druze women mourn by a coffin during a funeral of a young person killed in a rocket strike from Lebanon (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)
Twenty people wounded in the deadly incident are hospitalised at Ziv Medical Centre in Safed, including 17 in moderate to severe condition. Three children, aged 11, 12, 14, at Ziv Medical Centre, are in serious condition in the paediatric intensive care unit, sedated and intubated, all with abdominal injuries, chest injuries and limb fractures.
Five of the wounded were moved to Haifa's Rambam Health Care Campus while four were taken to Tiberias' Poriya Hospital.
Israeli channel Ynet reported that a number of relatives of the victims have been taken for medical treatment after they were overwhelmed by emotion during the funeral.
Eyewitnesses to the strike said that the carnage on the football field was reminiscent of October 7.
Druze leader Sheikh Muafak Tarif told Channel 12 news that the community, which numbers close to 12,000 people, was in shock following the “terrible massacre”.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah strike was a “cruel and murderous terror attack that targeted innocent children who were playing soccer,” he said.
“This is the ongoing reality of the last nine months up north. This evening, all possible red and black lines were crossed,” he added.
Israeli security forces and medics in Majdal Shams (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)
Former Druze member of the Knesset, Ayoob Kara, took to Twitter/X to express his “horror at the awful massacre”. He called Hezbollah “hateful, blood-thirsty murderers without moral lines and motivated by blind hatred,” adding a demand that the IDF enter Lebanon and Syria and “purify the terrorist areas”.
The strike on innocent children playing football marked a grave escalation after a barrage of fire from southern Lebanon directed at several towns in the Golan Heights. It was the deadliest Hezbollah attack on northern Israel since fighting began on the Israel-Lebanon border on October 8.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will return from his state visit to the US early and vowed the Lebanese group would “pay a hefty price” after the deadly strike.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant visited Majdal Shams on Sunday. He called the deadly attack "an awful tragedy. Hezbollah is responsible for this, and they will pay the price ... You should know the whole country is with you, and the whole army is with you – we will talk of everything else later, but first I want you to know that. The IDF, the Defence Ministry, the State of Israel – are all with you."
Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant (C) visits the site where a strike from Lebanon fell in Majdal Shams (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)
On Saturday evening Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“There is no doubt that Hezbollah crossed all red lines,” Katz told Channel 12 news. “We are facing an all-out war.” He claimed Israel will have “full backing” from the US and Europe.
