Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today visited the site of the Majdal Shams massacre, together with Shin Bet (ISA) chief Ronen Bar.
The Prime Minister received an overview of the incident from Majdal Shams Mayor Dolan Abu Saleh and Ein Qiniyye Mayor Wael Mugrabi, at the scene where 12 children were murdered in a Hezbollah rocket attack while playing soccer on Saturday.
Netanyahu also laid a wreath in the name of the Israeli government at the site where the children were murdered.
"We came here today to Majdal Shams, together with Sheikh Muafak Tarif and the mayors of Majdal Shams and Ein Qiniyye, to express our deep sympathy and deep shock at the atrocity that took place here. It is a terrible disaster. Like all citizens of Israel, and I must tell you, like many in the entire world, we were shocked to the core by this terrible carnage," Netanyahu said.
“Hezbollah, with Iranian backing, launched an Iranian rocket here, which took the lives of twelve pure souls. Twelve boys and girls who played soccer here and unfortunately could not get to the shelter in time. The heart is torn apart by the severe tragedy. We embrace the families who are going through indescribable suffering," he added.
“These children are our children, they are all the children of all of us,” Netanyahu declared. “Israel will not and cannot let this simply pass by. Our response will come, and it will be harsh.”
"To our brothers and sisters, the Druze community, which has, up to this very day, paid a very heavy price in this war: I salute the heroic soldiers who gave their lives for us all. I say to you: We are brothers. We have a covenant of life, but unfortunately it is also a covenant of moments of bereavement and grief. We embrace you. I say to the entire community: Do not lose hope in the face of the acts committed by Iran and Hezbollah's axis of evil. The State of Israel will continue to stand by you, today and tomorrow, forever," Netanyahu concluded.