![Druze in Golan reject Israeli threats to retaliate for rocket strike](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/7a/07/2d/Druze-in-Golan-reject-Israeli-threa-124420.jpg)
-
Nissanka leaves Sri Lanka in sight of third Test win over England
-
Kendrick Lamar to headline 2025 Super Bowl halftime show
-
Thousands defy roadblocks in rally for Pakistan ex-PM Khan
-
Roglic wins record-equalling fourth Vuelta
-
Russia advances in east Ukraine, launches deadly air strikes
-
Cowboys quarterback Prescott agrees record $240 mln extension
-
Swiss double in Paralympic wheelchair marathons, Dutch women retain basketball title
-
New 'Beetlejuice' creeps its way to top of N.America box office
-
South Africa captain Kolisi leaves Racing 92: French Top 14 club
-
Funeral for slain athlete Cheptegei in Uganda on Sept 14
-
Dolphins star Hill arrested on way to season-opener
-
Smith hits back after England collapse against Sri Lanka
-
Weather delays final regattas in Louis Vuitton Cup
-
Venezuela's Gonzalez Urrutia: from placeholder to opposition pointman
-
Marquez thanks rain for San Marino MotoGP win as leader Martin pays for gamble
-
Boeing, union reach preliminary deal to avert Seattle-area strike
-
Neuville wins Acropolis Rally to close in on world title
-
Venezuela's opposition figure fled to Spain to save 'his life'
-
Trump, Harris tied on eve of televised presidential debate
-
Paris Paralympics the greatest ever, say former Olympics executives
-
Pope exit revives Sri Lanka's hopes in third Test against England
-
Gunman kills 3 Israelis at West Bank crossing as Gaza war rages
-
Marquez wins San Marino MotoGP as leader Martin pays for rain gamble
-
Greece to hike fee for cruise passengers to Mykonos and Santorini
-
Carsley's 'refreshing' England overhaul launches new era
-
Swiss double in wheelchair marathons on final day of Paralympics
-
France's Le Pen urges Macron to hold referendum to break deadlock
-
Typhoon Yagi weakens, toll rises to 14 in Vietnam
-
India's Randhir Singh elected Asian Olympic chief
-
Under pressure, UN winds down 'unique' Iraq probe into IS crimes
-
'Proud' athletics great Weir calls time on marathon Paralympic career
-
'Brave' Afghanistan can beat anyone, says skipper ahead of NZ Test
-
Vaughan warns England against 'taking the mick' after Sri Lanka collapse
-
England's Moeen Ali retires from international cricket
-
Japan's Hirata holds off inspired Smyth to win on Asian Tour
-
China's Paralympic domination fails to ignite enthusiasm back home
-
Sporting a feathered headdress, Pope finds 'Eden' in Papua New Guinea
-
Super Typhoon Yagi toll rises to 9 in Vietnam after landslide
-
Indonesian villagers dress corpses in ritual for the dead
-
Williamson expects 'phenomenal' Root to keep breaking records
-
The end of Olympic escapism for gloomy France
-
Amy Adams gets real about motherhood in 'Nightbitch'
-
Venezuela says presidential opposition candidate has left country
-
Women ride Pakistan's economic crisis into the workplace
-
Wallabies 'fell of cliff' in loss to Pumas, says coach Schmidt
-
Child abuse scandals hang over pope's East Timor visit
-
Biden team, end in sight, keeps hope on Gaza truce despite setbacks
-
Sabalenka dedicates US Open to family 'who never gave up' on dream
-
Venezuela takes diplomatic jab at Brazil in spat over election
-
Multiple people shot along highway in US state of Kentucky
![Druze in Golan reject Israeli threats to retaliate for rocket strike](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/7a/07/2d/Druze-in-Golan-reject-Israeli-threa-124420.jpg)
Druze in Golan reject Israeli threats to retaliate for rocket strike
Druze residents of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights distanced themselves Tuesday from Israeli threats to retaliate against Lebanon's Hezbollah group for a deadly rocket strike on a Druze Arab town in the territory.
Most of Majdal Shams's around 11,000 residents still identify as Syrian more than half a century after Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria and later annexed it in a move not recognised by the international community.
On a visit to the town on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Israel would deliver a "severe response" to the strike, which killed 12 children aged between 10 and 16 as they played football on Saturday.
On Tuesday, the Israeli army said it had struck around 10 Hezbollah targets overnight and killed one of the Iran-backed group's fighters.
Scores of Majdal Shams residents had come out to protest Netanyahu's visit, many donning traditional Druze caps.
The hawkish prime minister arrived hours after hundreds of mourners had joined the funeral procession for one of the children killed, Guevara Ibrahim, 11.
In a statement issued after his visit, Druze lay and religious leaders said the community rejects the "attempt to exploit the name of Majdal Shams as a political platform at the expense of the blood of our children".
Noting that the Druze faith "forbids killing and revenge in any form", the community leaders said "we reject the shedding of even a single drop of blood under the pretext of avenging our children".
- 'Who will we strike?' -
The Israeli military has said that the rocket which hit Majdal Shams was fired by Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, which has traded regular cross-border fire with Israeli forces since the Gaza war began last October, has denied responsibility for the strike, though it claimed multiple attacks on Israeli military positions the same day.
An AFP journalist reported that a semblance of normality had returned to Majdal Shams on Tuesday, with shops open and residents walking on the streets.
But the Druze leaders and residents said the whole community was still reeling from the children's deaths.
"The tragedy is immense, the impact is painful and the loss is shared by every household in the Golan," they said.
A paramedic from Majdal Shams, Nabih Abu Saleh, told AFP: "The town is in a state of mourning that may last for a week.
"We can't look into each other's eyes, because tears will flow," he added.
Saleh said his community was "against any Israeli response", and asked: "Who will we strike? Our people in Syria and Lebanon?"
The Druze, who follow an offshoot of Shiite Islam, are an Arabic-speaking community present in Israel, Lebanon and Syria, including the Golan.
The violence on the Israel-Lebanon border since October has killed 22 soldiers and 24 civilians on the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan, according to army figures.
At least 527 people have been killed on the Lebanese side, according to an AFP tally. Most have been fighters, but the toll includes at least 104 civilians.
A.P.Maia--PC