Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited Majdal Shams on Sunday morning together with the head of the council Dulan Abu Salah and the commander of the Bashan Division Brigadier General Yair Pelai to see the site of the recent deadly rocket strike.
Galant said that this was "a very difficult event, and I am deeply pained about these children. Know that the whole country is with you and the whole army is with you. There is more to say, but first of all I want you to know that."
He added: "I ask that you convey to the families on my behalf and on behalf of the entire security establishment our solidarity following this very difficult event - a terrible tragedy. Innocent children - it simply breaks one's heart. Hezbollah is responsible for this and it will pay the price."
Gallant allow wrote on X: "We mourn the innocent boys and girls killed in Majdal Shams. There are 150,000 Druze in Israel, as well as millions of Jews and Arab Israelis. We live side by side and all suffer from Hezbollah's terror. We will ensure Hezbollah, the proxy of Iran, pays a price for this loss.”
Last night the Chief of Staff, Hertzi Halevi, also visited the scene and spoke with the heads of the Druze community and with residents.
"Hezbollah does not distinguish between killing Druze or Jews. It is a terrorist organization, it wants to harm civilians, it wants to harm soldiers. We have been fighting for over nine months, soon to be ten months, against Hezbollah in the north, inflicting severe blows on Hezbollah."
He declared, "I have been delayed here in conversation with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense. We are fighting very resolutely against Hezbollah, all this time, and this incident will bring about a very very significant response."
"Our goals are very clear. We will hurt Hezbollah hard, we will take Hezbollah back, we will return the residents to their homes in the north with confidence. We are very determined to do this and we will protect you here well. I say here something to all the residents of the area, to be very careful of the instructions because we will respond. Be patient."
"When we respond, there may be more shooting here, and we must be very careful to follow the instructions of the Home Front Command, the instructions of Northern Command, because we want to hit Hezbollah hard, but not to take any more casualties here. I have come to tell you that we will fight with great determination against Hezbollah, we fought before, and after this terrible and tragic event we will fight even more."