DAMASCUS: Syria on Tuesday held a condolence ceremony in Quneitra for 12 children killed in a strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The ceremony took place in a tent set up outside a government building in Quneitra city, located just a few hundred meters from the Golan Heights, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
Dozens of Syrians wearing traditional white Druze caps attended the event, and expressed their solidarity with the victims’ families in Majdal Shams.
Jawdat Talia, a resident, stated, “We came to show our solidarity with our people, the families of the martyrs in Majdal Shams… These children are our children.”
Israel has claimed that Hezbollah fired a Falaq-1 Iranian rocket at the Druze town of Majdal Shams. However, Hezbollah has stated that it had “no connection” to the attack.
Druze residents of the Golan Heights have distanced themselves from Israeli threats of retaliation against Hezbollah. Despite being under Israeli control, most of Majdal Shams’s 11,000 residents continue to identify as Syrian.
Following Israel’s seizure of the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967, the annexation has not been internationally recognized, and many Druze in the area have refused Israeli citizenship.
Lawmakers and local leaders, including Walid Darwish, offered condolences to those affected, emphasizing the close proximity of their grief, “From here, just a few meters away from the border strip, we offer our deepest condolences to our people inside the occupied territories.”
Quneitra province, which includes part of the Golan Heights, was fully retaken by Syrian forces in 2018 after being largely controlled by rebel factions since 2013. The province remains a point of contention between Israel and Syria.
