Israel-Hamas War day 297: What's happening in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon?

The German government calls on all parties to the Middle East conflict, in particular Iran, to prevent an escalation after a rocket attack in the Golan Heights killed 12 children and teenagers last week, a spokesperson said on Monday.

Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines cancelled their flights to Israel on Monday, Israeli media reported. 

The cancelation comes amid reports of an Israeli response to the rocket attack that killed 12 children in Majdal Shams on Saturday. 

Earlier on Monday, it was reported that Lufthansa had halted its flights to Beirut, Lebanon. 

Britain welcomes the Lebanese government's call for a cessation of all violence after an attack on the Golan Heights blamed on Lebanon's Hezbollah, Britain's foreign minister said following a call with Lebanon's prime minister.

"I spoke to (Lebanon's) Prime Minister @Najib_Mikati today to express my concern at escalating tension and welcomed the Government of Lebanon’s statement urging for cessation of all violence," David Lammy wrote on X on Monday.

"We both agreed that widening of conflict in the region is in nobody’s interest."

Israel wants to hurt Hezbollah but does not want to drag the region into an all-out war, a senior Israeli defense official said, while two other officials said the country was preparing for the possibility of a few days of fighting.

The officials spoke as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened security assessments and the security cabinet late on Sunday, a day after a strike in Majdal Shams killed 12 children.

Residents of evacuated localities in the Upper Galilee were told to "remain vigilant" and reduce gathering and movement inside the communities on Monday, Israeli media reported, citing the Upper Galilee Regional Council. 

The directives were issued following a situational assessment of the Home Front Command and the Northern Command. 

This comes amid reports of an Israeli response to the rocket attack that killed 12 children in Majdal Shams on Saturday. 

Following the Majdal Shams massacre led by Hezbollah, the Jerusalem Post reached across the border to hear from two Druze activists about their environment’s reaction to the north events, Hezbollah’s attempts to deny their involvement, and the oppression faced by the ancient indigenous population by the Iranian proxy.

N: ‘Hezbollah currently our largest existential threat’

N., a Lebanese Druze in his late Twenties, is a university graduate from the Aleyh District in Mount Lebanon who is currently taking Construction Projects.

N. told the Jerusalem Post that he was “appalled by the atrocity of the massacre committed by Hezbollah on the 27th. The targeting of civilian facilities and the death toll which has reached 12 children and teenagers is also a further cause of pain and sympathy with the victims and their loved ones.”

N. added that these actions must have severe consequences, adding that should they continue, retaliation on Hezbollah in Lebanon will be considered.

When asked about the the atmosphere among those in his close vicinity, N. said that they have all shifted to condemnation of Hezbollah, as well as condemnation of Druze political leader Walid Jumblatt, which he deemed “acquiescence to the terrorist group,” denouncing what he saw as “cover up for his alliance with the Devil, which the Druze populace does not buy.”

According to N., the majority of Druze are now spiteful tpwards Hezbollah and its military wing, and it seems very unlikely after the massacre on the 27th that the Druze would accept any Shiite Refugees from Beirut if the full scale war were to break open.

“Whatever contempt was held against Hezbollah is now magnified,” he added.

Regarding Hezbollah’s attempts to deny their involvement in the massacre, N. held that “all evidence suggests otherwise.” He elaborated that an Israeli Tapir Missile “does not carry strong explosive charge and would’ve left behind a smoke trail, while the videos of the blast clearly prove the direct hit and explosive range of a Hezbollah Falaq missile. 

N. stressed that the Druze of Lebanon differ from those of Syria and Israel in that they are headed by Jumblatts, whom he deemed non-Druze in origin, and “of Sunni stock.” He added that they have constantly striven to Islamify the Druze and dissolve their unique character, whether through Islamic causes or Kamal Jumblatt’s falsification of Druze Religious texts. N. also added that some Druze have recently left Jumblatt’s Progressive Socialist Party to the historical rival, the Lebanese Forces party, in rebellion to his stances - an act he deemed unthinkable until recently.

N. accused the Jumblatts of starting internal conflicts with the Maronites to prevent the historical symbiosis of Druze and Maronites that had once built the “Great Lebanon” under Fakhreddin II. He added worryingly that, unless the Druze and Maronite founders of Lebanon find a common cause, the country is likely to dissolve and turn into a surrounded and persecuted state, especially with the demographics of both groups hitting record rates of permanent immigration which comes hand in hand with the loss of land, role and prospect, as he phrased it.

N also referred to the critical situation of his brethren in Syria, covered extensively over the past couple of weeks by the Jerusalem Post. “The Assad regime is sending military reinforcements to Suwayda as I write these paragraphs,” he warned, adding: “Assad seeks to subdue the Druze with violent gangs.”

Druze anti-regime demonstrations in Suwayda. (credit: SOCIAL MEDIA)

N believes that Hezbollah will be involved with other Iranian proxies in any conflict between Assad and the Syrian Druze, while in Lebanon, Hezbollah seeks to control the Druze Higher Ground because they believe if Israel were ever to get hold of them it would be a military checkmate for them. “Therefore they have continued to encroach on Druze land and attempt to build new military points, including military tunnels from their villages of to Druze ones. Hezbollah is currently our greatest existential threat in all three countries, and they will never leave us at peace or choose non-aggression. They desire pawns, not neighbors,” he added bitterly.

When asked about the prospects of relations with Israel through the Israeli Druze, N described them as “our brothers and sisters” and lauded what he deemed “a key role under the good guidance of Sheikh Muafac Tareef” in aiding the Druze of Syria. He also claimed that the Druze in Lebanon would be “strategically mute” if they do not consider direct support and interaction with them. “The greater aim is for all Druze to be one golden chain and preserve each other,” he added.

“We hope first to an end of all hostilities and a peaceful cohesive Levant booming in prosperity, and not a war-torn Levant with Terrorist Islamists and Authoritarian despots. We believe that is time for a strong Minority Alliance in the Middle East in the face of the Khomeinist wave of destruction,” he concluded.

M: ‘propaganda is strong, but we know what Hezbollah is like’

M. is in her late twenties, self employed and living in Mount Lebanon. “I’m heartbroken, devastated and shocked to say the least,” she commented regarding the massacre in Majdal Shams. “We’re a community that survived all sorts of ethnic cleansing and oppression but borders will never separate us. A Druze is a Druze, whether they’re Lebanese, Israeli or Syrian… and our hearts are broken for Majdal Shams. We’re bound by faith to preserve one another and we’ll avenge the blood of our innocent children.”

M addressed the horrid comments sounded by Hezbollah supporters who gloated over the massacre, adding that these days are especially hard because “while we mourn the death of our kids, we have to deal with hateful people who are celebrating their death, Justifying the terror attack and saying things like ‘our children look beautiful when they’re torn to pieces!’ And these are people who we supposedly share the same national identity with,” she added gloomily.

M said that many in her environment are furious and want revenge. “Unfortunately though some don’t even know what happened! Some think the Druze were a casualty and not a target!” She added in shock. “People are lost between the media blockade, the propaganda machine, and the truth. The Druze in Lebanon feel helpless and detached from what’s happening. Many feel we shouldn’t even talk about this or even have a Druze cause…  and that even having this mentality might result in a civil war,” she added, echoing some of the deepest fears of many in the war torn country.

Family and friends attend the funeral service of druze children who were killed at a soccer field from a missile fired from Lebanon, in the druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Golan Heights, July 28, 2024. (credit: JAMAL AWAD/FLASH90)

“My vicinity has always been anti Hezbollah” she commented. “Regardless of what Walid Joumblatt says, the Lebanese Druze wholeheartedly hate Hezbollah. We have a history of fighting them… They attacked us in May 2008 and tried to invade Mount Lebanon and failed. So I wouldn’t say the sentiment has changed.” M added that her environment knows Hezbollah well and are not surprised by the massacre. “However now people are much more disappointed in Joumblatt’s political stand. Obviously his stand doesn’t reflect the true opinion of the Druze in Lebanon. We’ve always seen his statements as politics and nothing more or as a way of trying to protect our small community that is way outnumbered by other groups. However now we feel disrespected,” she said, “Although some believe that it’s some master plan to avoid a civil war.”

When asked about Hezbollah’s attempt to distance themselves from the massacre, M commented: “The propaganda machine is strong, Hezbollah and IRCG are working hard to change the narrative. We’ve seen all their other crimes against the Lebanese though! We know what they’re like! If we’re gonna believe Hezbollah then we might as well believe that Hariri killed himself,” she added, referring to the assassination of ex prime minister Rafic Hariri in 2005, at attributed to Hezbollah loyalists, “and so did every other sovereign MP and journalist (targeted by Hezbollah), and that the ammonium nitrate (which caused the 2021 deadly explosion in the Beirut port” stored itself. Hezbollah distanced themselves from the port explosion and then obstructed the investigation, so We’ve seen this before,” she stressed.

“I’m sad to see some Lebanese fall for such lies,” she added. “I never doubted Hezbollah’s cruelty though… They have a long history in killing children in Syria.”

When asked about the the situation of the Druze in Lebanon these days, M commented that the country “is slowly losing it’s identity and we’ve become 4th class citizens is the country we founded. Even our Druze identity and religion is under attack,” she added in distress. “Ever since the Taif agreement (which ended the civil war in 1989) Lebanon has been trying to group the Druze with Muslims, as Walid Joumblatt and his appointed Sheikhs have been trying to impose Islamic rituals on us. With all my respect to Islam, and every single other religion, Druze is its own religion and ethnicity! However some deceivers have been trying to erase our identity and deny our history.

“The Druze community was hit hard by demographic changes,” she continued. “Druze villages are almost empty now, there aren’t many young Druze left in Lebanon, especially that there are no jobs. Most have immigrated. Druze villages have become empty streets with beautiful stone houses, and no one living there apart from some lonely old people and Syrian refugees.

“Lebanon today is held hostage by an Iranian terror proxy. Even its puppet government doesn’t represent its people. There’s no future for Lebanon with Hezbollah. It can’t go on like this,” she stressed sadly.

Regarding the Druze in Syria, M added that both the Assad regime and Lebanese Hezbollah have been targeting and oppressing the Druze in Syria. “We’ve been seeing an anti-Druze campaign, with the assassination of Druze faction leader Murhij al-Jarmani in Suwayda, Palestinian Islamic Jihad threatening the Druze in a statement, along with a hateful campaign against the Druze on social media. I believe it’s all connected and we might have become the new target of the Axis of Resistance. 

“We’re fully aware the Hezbollah will try to attack us at the first chance they get, this why many Druze villages are refusing to host people from south Lebanon is case of a large scale war,” she added.

When asked about relations with Israeli Druze, M referred to them as “our brethren, and no politics or borders can ever change this. No war can ever destroy our bond. Druze will always stand with the Druze, no matter what. To other Israeli citizens I extend a hand of peace. I hope we can start planting seeds of peace and tolerance instead of hate and violence. I hope we’ll be free from extremism and our future generations won’t have to experience such horror and violence,” she added.

“My deepest condolences to the families of the victims. Our pain is one, and the borders that separate us are mere lines on maps. May peace unite us again,” M continued.

“In times like these we realise that the only people who understand our pain are other prosecuted minorities. We see the Jews, the Maronites, the Yazidis, and the Copts standing with us, while others celebrate or justify the murder of our innocent children. I hope we can all stand together and fight terrorism and extremism. To all Israeli citizens I hope we can plant seeds of peace for a brighter future for our children. I hope we’ll be the generation that will witness peace,” she concluded.

Troops of the 401st Givati Brigade eliminated terrorists in close-quarters combat and via aircraft fire in the Rafah area in the Gaza Strip, the military said on Monday. 

Paratroopers and forces of the 7th Brigade demolished terror infrastructure in Khan Yunis, where they also killed terrorists in joint operations with aircraft.

The military added that some of the terrorists who had been killed had fired at the troops. 

Throughout the Gaza Strip in the past day, Israel Air Force jets and aircraft struck some 35 terror targets, including armed terrorist cells, booby-trapped structures, and terror infrastructure. 

British navy vessels sent to the Mediterranean may serve to aid in a potential evacuation operation from Lebanon, according to Channel 12 on Monday morning. 

The report also noted that the vessels may assist in transferring humanitarian aid to Gaza.  

The strike by Hezbollah on Israel was not "unintentional" but a "taunting towards Israel," retired US military general and military analyst Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling told CNN on Monday morning.

Hertling, who previously served as the Commanding General of the US Army in Europe and led the 1st Armored Division in Iraq, spoke to CNN following the Hezbollah strike on Majdal Shams, which killed 12 Druze children and wounded many more on Saturday.

Hertling strongly disagreed with the claims by a Western official in a previous CNN interview that the strike was "unintentional" and that neither side wanted an all-out war. 

An unmanned aerial vehicle struck a vehicle in southern Lebanon between the localities of Meis el-Jabal and Shaqra, according to the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen on Monday.

Al Mayadeen added that a second strike occurred in the same area, targeting a motorcycle. 

על פי דיווחים בלבנון אדם נהרג וארבעה נפצעו בתקיפת הכטב"ם@migansh5 pic.twitter.com/N1u60xsNr4

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) July 29, 2024

Two people were killed, and three were wounded following the strike, according to Israeli media, citing Lebanese reports. 

This is a developing story.