ISRAEL – The scene around the football pitch here in Majdal Shams, where 12 children and young people died on Saturday, is quiet and deeply sombre. There are plenty of people here – local Druze elders in their distinctive red and white turbans and baggy trousers, military officials, visiting government ministers and of course many journalists. A black flag flies at the spot where the rocket landed last night, gouging a shallow crater in the pitch and blowing out the metal fence around it. There are shrapnel holes everywhere. There’s a bomb shelter metres away, but when the siren sounded last night, the children had mere seconds to respond. They had absolutely no chance. Israel says the rocket was fired from Shebaa, a small village just a short distance away across the western flank of Mt Hermon, which towers over Majdal Shams.

Hezbollah disputes Israel’s claim, but around the time the rocket landed here, its media outlets announced that it had fired rockets towards an Israeli military base less than two miles from the football pitch. There’s a ripple of applause, but opinion here in this Druze minority town is divided on how forcefully Israel should respond. After almost 10 months of simmering conflict, the prospect of an all-out war scares many. When Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s hardline finance minister, arrives, the crowd swells and the sense of anger mounts.

He’s accosted by angry locals. Some are demanding a decisive response against Hezbollah. Some accuse the government of abandoning the Golan Heights. Smotrich tries to offer his condolences, even to hug those around him. But it seems not everyone is interested in his sympathy. In the middle of a large adjacent football pitch, 12 empty black chairs commemorate the lost.

Walking around the steep streets of this mountain community, the sense of collective shock and mourning is overwhelming. Small groups of men, women and children, all dressed in black, are moving around silently, from one grieving household to another. Wahim, a teacher who knew many of the young victims, was utterly distraught, unsure whether to try to express his feelings or stay silent.  (BBC) …[+]

ISRAEL – Israel’s security cabinet has authorized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister to decide when and how to retaliate for a deadly rocket attack Israel and the US say was carried out by the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah. Ministers met in emergency session in the wake of the strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday evening, which killed 12 children and teenagers from the Druze community. Hezbollah has denied responsibility.

The White House said it had been in “continuous discussions with Israeli and Lebanese counterparts since the horrific attack” on the playing field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams. It said it was “also working on a diplomatic solution along the Blue Line [the unofficial frontier between Israel and Lebanon] that will end all attacks once and for all”. On Monday morning an Israeli drone strike outside the Lebanese town of Shaqra, about 6.5km four miles from the Israeli border, killed two people, Lebanon’s state media said. Hezbollah announced that the dead men were two of its fighters. Israel has not commented on the report.

Meanwhile Air France has become the latest airline to suspend flights to and from Beirut, as anticipation of Israeli retaliation grows. Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines, and Eurowings have similarly suspended flights. In Majdal Shams, the funerals of the young victims took place on Sunday amid scenes of raw grief. Thousands of people were gathered as the caskets, draped in white, were carried through the town. The attack is the most devastating to hit the Druze community, which has lived on the Golan Heights for centuries. They are part of an Arabic-speaking ethnic and religious group based in Lebanon, Syria, the Golan Heights and northern Israel.

Those on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights have been under Israeli governance since Israel captured the area from Syria in the 1967 war, although many have retained their allegiance to Syria. There are about 21,000 who live on the rocky plateau, about 20% of whom have accepted Israeli citizenship.

The attack on Majdal Shams has caused outrage across Israel and the Druze community, about 110,000 of whom also live in Israel. Netanyahu cut short a visit to the US to return to Israel following the strike. He held meetings with defense officials before convening the security cabinet on Sunday. After the hours-long meeting, the prime minister’s office issued a brief statement, saying only that the “members of the Cabinet authorized the prime minister and the defense minister to decide on the manner and timing of the response against the Hezbollah terrorist organization Hezbollah has strongly denied it was behind the attack, reportedly blaming the bloodshed on a failed Israeli interceptor missile.

 (BBC) …[+]

BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed solid efforts to better serve and support ex-service personnel before the country celebrates its Army Day.

This year’s Army Day, which falls on Aug. 1, marks the 97th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. In an instruction on veterans affairs, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, described ex-service personnel as “a precious treasure” of the Party and the country.

He said veterans affairs played an important role in strengthening and revitalizing the armed forces. He also called for carrying out further reforms to better serve ex-service personnel and protect their rights and interests.

Xi emphasized the importance of making military service an honorable occupation and ensuring that ex-service personnel enjoy respect from the whole society. Xi expressed the hope that veterans will always retain the fine traditions of service personnel and make new and greater contributions to building a great country through Chinese modernization.

State Councilor Shen Yiqin read out Xi’s instruction at a national conference on veterans affairs on Monday, which honored 397 exemplary members of the ex-service personnel, along with 100 model units and 80 outstanding individuals dedicated to veterans affairs.   (Xinhua) …[+]

PARAMARIBO – Delano V. who is on trial for aggravated assault told the court that he acted in self-defence when he stabbed his attacker three times during an altercation. He had left his house on the day in question when he met his younger brother who told him that a few boys wanted to attack him. Delano V. then went home with his brother. On the way home they met the other boys so his brother ran away. Delano V. made it clear that he managed to disarm his attacker before injuring him with the weapon that he taken from his attacker. “Those boys were armed with a baseball bat, a meat cleaver and a knife. When the boy who was armed with a knife was closed to me, I managed to disarm him,” said the defendant who was then released from jail. The defendant is scheduled to return to court on October 1st…[+]