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‘The Druze are going nowhere, regardless of cost,’ IDF colonels tell TML
Going up north, you pass through ghost towns until you reach those Druze villages close to the border with Lebanon and Syria, whose inhabitants, despite the war, remained.
The shops are closed, and people prefer not to discuss the accident. Most of them stare silently at the children’s pictures hung on a net on the football pitch while the sound of explosions occurring just a few kilometers away can be heard in the background.
That afternoon, the Iron Dome alert set off at 6:18 p.m., but the rocket landed less than a minute later, giving the children no chance of reaching the nearby shelter.
The Israeli military went to the site to understand what may have caused the accident and found rocket fragments, which have been identified as parts of an Iranian-made Falaq rocket, which has a maximum range of 10 km and is a tool that only Hezbollah possesses.
The IDF estimated that the launch was fired by the Iran-backed militia from the north of the Lebanese town of Chebaa, about 10 km away from Majdal Shams.
Hezbollah’s loose relationship with the truth
As Sarit Zehavi, lieutenant colonel and founder of the Alma Center, explained to The Media Line: “That day, Hezbollah claimed at 7:30 pm responsibility for launching a Falaq 1 rocket towards a military base on the Mount Hermon area. Half an hour later, they denied involvement and started speculating that it was a misfire from the Iron Dome.”
The majority of the Druze in the Golan consider themselves citizens of Syria, where the government in Damascus is a Hezbollah ally. A strike on this community could hurt the group’s standing, including their relationship with the Druze living in the country, which has been supportive of Hezbollah and faithful to Lebanon until now.
“We were expecting this scenario, unfortunately, since Hezbollah has been targeting the north of Israel nonstop since October 8th. The terrorist organization always claimed proudly these attacks, but this time, they were afraid to do so due to the fear that the Lebanese Druze may have turned against them. So, this is the way they blamed Israel,” Zehavi added.
In response to this, many Druze leaders in Lebanon, Syria, and Israel spoke out against what they called an attempt to drive a wedge within the close-knit community.
In Lebanon, Walid Jumblatt, a Druze political leader, said in an interview with Al Jazeera: “It is Israel’s fabrication attempt to blame the “resistance” (Hezbollah), but this is nothing but a lie.”
“It is impossible that this was an Iron Dome misfire because the interceptor explodes in the sky and doesn’t cause a blast like the one we saw. The air defense missiles are designed to disperse regular-shaped fragments in every direction, but there was no sign of this fragmentation,” stated Zehavi.
Abed Kanaaneh, an expert on Lebanon and the Middle East at Moshe Dayan Center, explained as well: “The occupied- Golan Heights were targeted by Hezbollah that day with 100 rockets, so it is plausible that one of them hit the village of Majdal Shams. The Druze were, of course, not the target, but one of these missiles could have missed its shot and caused the catastrophe.”
Arab media didn’t acknowledge Hezbollah’s role in this but promoted its statements of denial.
“Arab people are currently not the ‘biggest fans’ of Israel since they saw that the country has been targeting children in the Gaza Strip in the past months, it was easier for them to say that Israel could have killed these children as well, to have an excuse to invade Lebanon. There is a lot of mistrust towards Israel now, so this is why many believe Hezbollah’s version,” Kanaaneh added.
The Media Line went on July 30 to the site of Majdal Shams to speak with several Druze-Israeli and Jewish-Israeli IDF colonels to understand what the Israeli response could have been.
“The Druze people of this village do not want a retaliation because they want to keep their neutrality in the conflict and fear for their relatives who live in southern Lebanon that may be targeted in Israel’s response. They prefer to pursue peace and stay here regardless of the cost,” Hamada Ghanim, Druze’s former military attaché in Europe and infantry battalion commander on the northern border, mentioned to The Media Line.
He noted, “As Druze, despite our different geographical locations and political stands, we are one community, so of course we prefer diplomacy instead of war.”
The lieutenant colonel and former intelligence officer of the IDF, Gidi Harari, mentioned on the matter: “We wish that a diplomatic solution could solve this war with Hezbollah, but unlike us, they have no duty in front of the international community and won’t opt out to follow the rules, as they did with previous UN resolutions. So, we must shoot hard now and strongly, not only in the Hezbollah southern-controlled part but all of Lebanon, if necessary. Hezbollah wants the Druze to go away from here, but they are not going anywhere.”
“There will be a strong hit against Hezbollah, but always within the limits of the game to prevent a total war. I think both sides won’t be interested in opening a wider conflict, but you never know what could instigate the opposite,” concluded Kanaaneh.
Yesterday, the IDF killed in Beirut Fuad Shukr, one of the top senior commanders of Hezbollah, which, according to the military, was behind the Majdal Shams’ attack. As a response, the militia targeted rockets throughout the evening in the northern part of Israel. Everyone is wondering if this could lead to a total war or would simply stop there.
Israel’s political echelon, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered the IDF to prepare for an “immediate” return to fighting in Gaza, KAN News reported on Friday evening.
The Jerusalem Post reported earlier this week that Israeli officials estimated that if no agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas, Israel would return to fighting in Gaza in about a week and a half.
“Hamas is currently rejecting [US Middle East envoy Steve] Witkoff’s proposal, so it is very difficult to make progress,” one official said.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Witkoff’s plan involves the release of half of the living hostages and the return of half of the bodies on the first day of the continued deal. The rest of the hostages and bodies would be returned on the 42nd day, which would be the final day of the ceasefire.However, some claim that the terrorist organization has not rejected the proposal. According to a source familiar with the negotiations, “Hamas has neither accepted nor rejected the Witkoff proposal.”
Eyal Zamir to Gaza border community heads: We’re preparing to fight
On his first day as the new IDF chief of staff on Thursday, Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir told heads of local councils from the Gaza border communities that “we are preparing to return to fighting” in Gaza.
“We must defeat Hamas,” Zamir said. “We are also preparing to resume fighting. The hostages are our top priority.”
Amichai Stein contributed to this report.
Negotiations over the continued release of hostages held in Gaza have stalled, and “right now there is nothing happening,” sources familiar with details of the talks admitted in conversation with The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
“Right now, there’s nothing happening,” an Israeli official told the Post, adding that “Hamas is currently rejecting the Witkoff proposal, so it is very difficult to make progress.”
According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, the Witkoff plan involves the release of half of the living hostages and the return of half of the bodies on the first day of the deal. The second half of the hostages and bodies would be returned on the 42nd day, which would be the final day of the ceasefire.
On the other hand, some claim that Hamas has not rejected the proposal. “Hamas has neither accepted nor rejected the Witkoff proposal,” said a source with knowledge of the negotiations with the Post.“Hamas has said it is willing to negotiate and has not rejected the plan. Since Israel currently states that this is the proposal on the table, from Israel’s perspective, Hamas has rejected it.”
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff not expected to visit Israel soon, source says
An Israeli source told the Post that there is no expectation for Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, to visit the region at the moment, adding, “He will only come to finalize a deal. And since there is no real progress right now, it is unclear when or if he will arrive.”
Without an agreement on the release of additional hostages in the coming days, Israeli sources say Israel is preparing to escalate its actions against Hamas. After the decision on Sunday to stop humanitarian aid, Israel is preparing to cut off water and electricity to the Gaza Strip, as well as resume fighting – some say this might happen, without a deal, as early as next week.
Israeli officials suggest that even without accepting the Witkoff initiative, Hamas might agree to release additional hostages in the near future in exchange for the release of terrorists from prison and the entry of caravans and humanitarian aid, but they add that this also depends on other issues.
“The Israeli government needs to decide what will be negotiated with Hamas and what they will receive in exchange for the release of hostages in the coming weeks,” said an Israeli source. “Hamas’s agreement to release more hostages depends on the answers to these questions.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that Israel responded to the mediators’ request to allow a few more days of negotiations. Katz added,d “If Hamas does not release the hostages soon, the gates of Gaza will be locked and the gates of hell will be opened – we will return to fighting, and they will face the IDF with forces and methods they have never encountered before.”
Israeli officials suggest that even without accepting the Witkoff initiative, Hamas might agree to release additional hostages in the near future in exchange for the release of terrorists from prison and the entry of caravans and humanitarian aid, but they add that this also depends on other issues. “The Israeli government needs to decide what will be negotiated with Hamas and what they will receive in exchange for the release of hostages in the coming weeks,” said an Israeli source. “Hamas’s agreement to release more hostages depends on the answers to these questions.”
No progress has been made in the ceasefire talks in Cairo, and Israel is reaching a dead end, a source familiar with the details of the negotiations told The Jerusalem Post Saturday.
There were lots of technical discussions but no results, the source added.
Israel and mediating countries believe that only the Trump administration can perhaps break the talks out of the impasse.
“When [US Middle East envoy Steve] Witkoff arrives, things may happen. Everyone is waiting for him,” the source said.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene a meeting on the hostage deal in the next several hours with senior officials and the negotiation team, an Israeli official told the Post.
Hamas refusing Israeli proposal to extend phase one of deal
Hamas is refusing the idea of extending the first phase of the deal, Israeli officials said.
The Israeli and Qatari delegations arrived in Cairo on Thursday. The delegation is led by Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing Persons, Brig.-Gen. (Res.) Gal Hirsch, as well as “M,” an anonymous officer from the Shin Bet. M is the former deputy of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, who is reportedly no longer part of the hostage deal negotiating team.
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