Following a direct hit in the area of Majdal Shams, a large Druze town, on Saturday evening, eleven were killed, among them children and teenagers between the ages of 10 and 20. At least 19 were wounded to varying degrees, including six seriously injured, three moderately, and 10 lightly injured, including those suffering from anxiety attacks.
They were transported to hospitals by Magen David Adom teams and IDF helicopters, MDA said in a statement. Following the direct hit in Majdal Shams, about 100 doses and blood components were provided to hospitals, MDA stated. MDA has asked the public to donate blood during the week.
The rocket hit a soccer field near a playground.
According to an IDF situational assessment and IDF intelligence, the rocket launch toward Majdal Shams was carried out by Hezbollah. A senior official from Hezbollah, Mohammad Afif, told Reuters on Saturday that the group was not responsible for the strike, although later IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari stated that the terror organization was lying.
From the analysis of the IDF’s operational systems, the rocket launch was carried out from an area located north of the village of Chebaa in southern Lebanon.
Upon arrival at the scene, senior MDA medic Idan Avshalom stated, “We arrived at the soccer field and saw destruction and items on fire. Victims were lying on the grass, and the scenes were difficult. We immediately began triaging the injured. Some of the injured were taken to local clinics, and our teams were directed to those clinics as well. During the incident, there were additional alerts, and medical treatment for the injured is still ongoing.”
Situational assessments of the incident
The Chief of the General Staff, Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi, the Northern Command’s Commanding Officer, the Operations Directorate Head, the Israel Air Force Head, and other members of the General Staff Forum are currently conducting a situational assessment of the incident.
In addition, the Northern Command’s Commanding Office Major-General Ori Gordin conducted a situational assessment in Majdal Shams where he also visited the area of the direct hit. Gordin also spoke with Shaykh Mowafaq Tarif, the head of the Druze community.
Furthermore, the Education Ministry in the North opened a situation room to assess the events, accompanied by the authorities, families, and school personnel.
Alarms were activated in the Majdal Shams area in the Northern Galilee at 6:18 p.m.
Moshe Davidovitch, head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council and chairman of the Confrontation Line Forum, responded to the incident, “I share the sorrow of the leadership of the Majdal Shams local council over the tragic harm to innocent residents and send speedy recovery wishes to the injured.”
“I am outraged! It seems that until the rockets land in Caesarea, the Prime Minister and cabinet members will continue their policy of ignoring the north. I call on the government to wake up from its slumber and act immediately!” he declared.
The Israel Police reported that they are dealing with a number of scenes where shrapnel fell in the North of the Golan directly after initial reports of the incident.
Police and Northern District police detectives isolated the crash scene and are searching for additional remains to remove further risk to the public.
Heavy barrages of rockets to the North
The residents of several localities in Northern Galilee were told to stay near shelters, including in Nimrod, Neve Ativ, Odem, El-Rom, Merom Golan, Ein Zivan, Ortal, Sha’al, Qela Alon, and Ramat Trump Heights, according to military guidelines, following several barrages of rockets. Additionally, Wast Junction and Brown Junction in the area are closed to vehicle traffic.
In the most recent barrage of rockets since the hit in Majdal Shams, 100 rockets were reportedly fired, according to the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen network.
Earlier, a barrage of rockets was fired Saturday evening toward Neve Ativ at 5:55 p.m., which included approximately 10 projectiles from Lebanon, the IDF reported. All projectiles fell in open areas and there were no injuries reported.
At 5:24 p.m., approximately 30 rockets were seen crossing from Lebanon into Israel, and alarms were activated in Kiryat Shmona, Tel Hai, Margaliot, and across the Northern Galilee. In this instance, the IDF Aerial Defense Array intercepted numerous projectiles, and the rest fell in open areas. In this instance, also no injuries were reported.
The shooting was carried out in response to the elimination of four Radwan force operatives in southern Lebanon Saturday evening, Ynet reported. These operatives included Naeem Ali Farhat and Ahmad Hikmat Musa from the Al-Bekaa region in northeastern Lebanon, Mohammed Ali Mustafa Merish from Beirut, and Hassan Al-Halal Al-Saidi from the town of Toul in southern Lebanon, Ynet reported, citing Hezbollah.
This brings the total number of the organization’s fatalities since the start of the war to 383.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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