The most deadly attack to hit Israel or Israeli-controlled territory since the October 7 attacks, according to Hezbollah, is something the group “firmly denies” being committed.
According to a military statement released early on Sunday morning, Israeli airplanes carried out airstrikes against Hezbollah targets “deep inside Lebanese territory” and along the border during the night. It was not immediately apparent if those attacks resulted in any casualties.
During a visit to Majdal Shams, a community close to the borders with Lebanon and Syria, where a rocket assault on Saturday claimed the lives of children and teenagers, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised a strong response.
Gallant declared, “Hezbollah is accountable for this and they will bear the consequences.” He made the following addition in a previous office statement: “We will hit the enemy hard.”
“Approximately 30 projectiles” entered Israeli territory from Lebanon during the Saturday strikes, which Israel’s military promptly attributed to the extremist group sponsored by Iran.
It injured 44 individuals and claimed the lives of 12 youngsters, according to the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A list provided by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and locals indicates that the youngsters killed in the hit were playing soccer on a field. On Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken supported Israel’s judgment, stating that “every indication” pointed to Hezbollah firing a rocket.
The Golan Heights, which Israel conquered from Syria in 1967 during the Six-Day War and annexed in 1981, is home to about 20,000 Druze Arabs. Along with being deemed occupied territory by international law and decisions of the UN Security Council, the region is also home to over 25,000 Jewish Israeli settlers.
The majority of Druze in the area consider themselves Syrian and have turned down offers of Israeli citizenship. According to the Majdal Shams Regional Council on Sunday, none of the 12 youngsters who were killed were citizens of Israel.
On Sunday, hundreds of mourners gathered in the streets for a funeral procession dedicated to the strike fatalities. Black-clad mourners sang as white coffins were brought to a funeral home while other mourners held floral wreaths.
Yair Lapid, the head of the Israeli opposition, said during the burial, “The kids that died on that football field could have been any of our kids.” They are, therefore, in fact, each of our offspring. These are our offspring.
During the ceremony, however, several locals heckled far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich, swarming the finance minister and demanding that he leave. Security eventually escorted Smotrich out of the room.
Fear of rocket attacks is spreading in Israel and Hezbollah
Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging rocket fire almost every day. These exchanges have grown more tense and have raised concerns that Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza may eventually expand into a multifront conflict across the Middle East.
Hezbollah acknowledged that it had attacked the Golan Heights on Saturday, but it denied being behind the attack on Majdal Shams.
An announcement stated, “We confirm that the Islamic Resistance has no connection to the incident at all and firmly denies all false claims in this regard.”
Following Israel’s overnight bombings, Hezbollah’s chief of media relations, Mohammad Afif, told CNN on Sunday that the terrorist group was in a “state of mobilization” and had evacuated certain military locations. Regarding the location and the number of positions involved, he did not elaborate.
An extremely tense day in the region resulted from Israel’s early nighttime response, which seemed to stop short of the kind of attack that would ignite an all-out war.
In a statement released on Sunday, Iran’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Nasser Kanaani cautioned Israel against embarking on “any new adventures” that target Lebanon. According to the statement, Israel “will not be heard either, nor does it have the minimum moral authority to comment or judge about the incident that happened in Majdal Shams area.”
Because of the incident, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Saturday that he would be returning to Israel and reducing his visit to the United States by several hours. He also promised to call a security cabinet meeting as soon as he got back.
“Shocked” by the attack, the prime minister expressed. The State of Israel will not remain mute on this, I can assure you of that. “This won’t be postponed,” he declared.
On Sunday, the foreign minister of Egypt issued a warning “about the dangers of opening a new war front in Lebanon.” To avoid an extended conflict, it urged “influential forces in the international community to intervene immediately.”
Read More: 3 Members of the gospel group ‘The Nelons’ killed in a plane crash
Source
CNN
