Druze protest Israel ministers' presence at funeral after Golan attack

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was chased out of the funeral of the 12 Syrian Druze children killed in a rocket attack on Saturday. Angry locals accused the cabinet minister of being responsible for the death of their children, saying he came to 'dance on their children's blood'. Israel says a Hezbollah missile struck the occupied territory, a claim the Lebanese group denies. This latest event has sparked fears of a wider Israeli assault on Lebanon.

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Mourners protested the participation of Israeli ministers in the funeral of 12 people killed in a rocket attack in the Israeli occupied Golan Heights on Saturday, Anadolu reported.

Israel has linked the attack on a football pitch in the Druze town of Majdal Shams to Lebanon’s Hezbollah group. However the group denies the claim.

Footage aired by Israeli media showed mourners protesting the presence of Israeli ministers, including far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, at the funeral.

“Get out of here, you criminal. We don’t want you in the Golan,” one protester shouted at Smotrich.

Environment Protection Minister Idit Silman, Economy Minister Nir Barkat and Energy Minister Eli Cohen faced similar protests.

According to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, the Druze Authorities Forum sent a letter to Israeli government ministers requesting that they not attend the funeral.

“Do not come. Given the sensitivity of the situation, we ask not to turn this massacre into a political event. We demand a quiet religious funeral according to Druze customs,” read the letter.

In a statement on Saturday, the Lebanese Hezbollah categorically denied “allegations made by Israeli enemy media outlets about targeting the town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Syrian Golan.”

Fears have grown about a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah amid an exchange of cross-border attacks between the two sides.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of a deadly Israeli onslaught on Gaza, which has killed more than 39,300 Palestinians since October.

Read: Iran warns Israel against ‘new adventurism’ after Majdal Shams attack

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