by Farrukh Abadi
A projectile hit a soccer field in the Druze village Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday, killing at least 12 people and wounding 30. The victims, who were mostly children, belong to the religious and ethnic Druze minority, which has generally stayed out of the war and has not been a target by either side.
Israel blamed the Lebanese resistance organization Hezbollah for the attack, while Hezbollah has categorically denied any involvement and requested a UN investigation, claiming that the attack was a failed Israeli interceptor missile. Some, such as the Iranian government, have suggested the attack was an Israeli false-flag operation to justify an invasion of Lebanon. Locals blamed Israel for the killings and chased away Israeli officials who attempted to attend the funeral, claiming they came to “dance on their children’s blood”. The Israeli army has a history of covering up its murder of civilians and friendly fire, including in its actions on October 7 that have increasingly come to light.
Since the killings, Israel has launched missile and drone attacks against Lebanon, killing and injuring several people, including children. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has also canceled the trips of 150 sick children from Gaza to the United Arab Emirates to receive medical treatment.
The attack took place in the Golan Heights, which is recognized by the UN as Syrian territory illegally occupied by Israel since 1967. The US is the only country that recognizes the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, which was enacted under the Trump administration and continues under the Biden-Harris administration.
In the occupied Golan Heights, the Druze generally identify themselves as Syrian and have refused Israeli citizenship. The Druze have a history of protesting against Israel’s racist laws that facilitates their displacement by Israeli settlers. Israeli forces have attacked the Druze in the Golan Heights as recently as June 2023.
Netanyahu has used the killings as an excuse to further escalate toward all-out war against Lebanon, which his war cabinet authorized in late June. The killings happened at the tail end of Netanyahu’s trip to the US, giving him the opportunity to cut his trip short and use the attack as propaganda to secure more weapons for Israel, which he had requested in his speech to congress. His administration declared Israeli citizens among the dead and that the attack crossed “all red lines”. However, the Regional Council of Majdal Shams stated that none of those killed held Israeli citizenship.
Netanyahu has repeatedly tried to instigate for a wider war in the region in order to get the US involved in direct military conflict to prop up his failing regime and preserve Israel. In April, Israel tried to instigate war with Iran by killing top Iranian military officials, while during his latest trip to the US, his speech to congress again tried to incite US intervention against Iran.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken supported Israel’s claim that Hezbollah was behind the attack and has given Israel the green flag for retaliation, but stated that he does not want the conflict to escalate. The US and allied imperialist powers have also previously hesitated to support such an escalation, which would drag them into a regional conflagration that is already out of their control and particularly at a time when the US is attempting to pivot to East Asia to contain China.
Hezbollah has signaled that it is not interested in an all-out war with Israel, but that it is willing to defend itself. While the two forces have exchanged limited attacks since October 8, the last full-scale war between the two forces in 2006 resulted in Israel’s defeat and expulsion from Lebanon. Iran has reiterated its support for Hezbollah, with a government spokesman stating: “After 10 months of mass killing in the Gaza Strip and mass murder of Palestinian children and women, the apartheid Israeli regime is trying to distract public opinion and global attention from its wide-ranging crimes in Palestine using a fabricated scenario.”
