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July 29, 2024

Strike in Occupied Golan Heights Kills 12 Druze Children as Fears Grow of Regional War
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On Sunday, thousands of members of the Druze community in the occupied
Golan Heights gathered for funerals of 12 children and teenagers killed
in a rocket strike on a soccer field Saturday. Israel blamed the
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah for the strike, but Hezbollah denied
the claim. Axios reports Hezbollah officials have told the United
Nations that the deaths were caused by an Israeli anti-rocket
interceptor projectile. The deaths occurred in the town of Majdal Shams
in a part of Syria which has been under Israeli occupation since 1967.
Diplomats fear the strike could spark a broader regional war.

On Sunday, Israel's Security Cabinet authorized Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's government to decide on the "manner and timing" of a
military response. Netanyahu responded to the deaths in the Golan
Heights by blocking the evacuation of 150 sick children in Gaza who were
scheduled to receive treatment in the United Arab Emirates.


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