Town's shock and anger at deaths of 12 children in rocket strike

The funeral lament rang out across Majdal Shams, from the centre of the town, from balconies and from rooftops.

- Ruth Michaelson, Quique Kierszenbaum and Sufian Taha

Thousands of mourners packed the narrow streets and squares, carrying small coffins covered in white shrouds to their final resting place.

Less than a day earlier, the town of squat white-painted houses and fruit trees in the occupied Golan Heights became a flashpoint in an increasingly volatile regional conflict when a rocket killed 12 children playing football.

"We heard the siren and the strike was immediate. Our house shook," said Tawfiq Sayed Ahmed, an insurance agent. Ahmed immediately thought of her three daughters, who loved to play at the football pitch. The children, she said, had split into teams for a match.