Jerusalem, Jul 28 (EFE).- Thousands of people gathered Sunday in Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, for the funeral of 11 of the 12 children who were killed while playing soccer a day earlier by a missile attributed to Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah.
“The images of horror will never be erased,” Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif read at the ceremony, saying it was a “dark Saturday” that will remain ”etched in memory as a low point in humanity.”
On a square in the heart of the Druze city, thousands of citizens, most of them wearing black, crowded the streets, rooftops and balconies as the 12 white coffins with the deceased children, aged between 10 and 16, passed by.
Some of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government ministers present at the funeral, such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Economy Minister Nir Barkat, were booed and shouted at by some of the attendees.
“Get them out of here, we don’t want them!” one man shouted.
“You abandoned us for nine months and now you’re here?” said another.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid and Labor leader Yair Golan also attended.
“The role of the state is to provide security for children. Children are not supposed to die in adult wars. The government failed, we apologize to the families,” Lapid said.
The attack also left about 30 injured. Three of them, aged 11, 12 and 14, are still in critical condition, according to The Times of Israel.
Meanwhile, the search continues for 11-year-old Guevara Ibrahim, who went missing after the attack. It is believed that the boy was on the soccer field when he was hit by a missile fired from Lebanon.
In the wake of the missile strike, Israel has urged the world to hold Iran and its allies “fully responsible”, pointing to Hezbollah, Hamas and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who last weekend attacked Tel Aviv, causing one death. EFE
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