Israel hits ‘terror targets’ in Lebanon after Golan Heights rocket strike kills 12 people
The Israeli Air Force says it has struck “terror targets” in Lebanon, including weapons caches and terrorist infrastructure, after 12 people were killed when a rocket hit a football pitch in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on Saturday.
Israeli media reported that as well as the 12 deaths, 24 people were injured, six of them seriously, in the strike on the Druze town of Majdal Shams. The victims included many children and young people aged between 10 and 20. Israel blames the Lebanese Islamist militant group Hezbollah, backed by Iran, but the organisation has strongly denied any role in the attack.
Foreign minister Israel Katz warned that Israel was “approaching all-out war” against Hezbollah and Lebanon, news outlet Axios reported.
'Heavy price'
“The Hezbollah attack today crossed all red lines, and the response will be accordingly. We are approaching the moment of an all-out war against Hezbollah and Lebanon,” Katz told Axios.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cut short his visit to the US earlier than planned after the attack and said Hezbollah would pay “a heavy price”. The group, an ally of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, opened a front against Israel on their common border on 8 October and exchanges fire with the Israeli army on a daily basis.
The Lebanese government has condemned the rocket strike.
"Shocking images from the soccer field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams. I strongly condemn this bloodbath"
The EU’s head of diplomacy, Josep Borrell, has called for an independent investigation into the “bloodbath”. “Shocking images from the soccer field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams. I strongly condemn this bloodbath,” he said on X. “We need an independent international investigation into this unacceptable incident. We urge all parties to exercise utmost restraint and avoid further escalation.”
The Iranian Foreign ministry warned Israel against retaliation. “Any action (...) by the Zionist regime could lead to further instability, insecurity and war in the region,” a spokesperson said, adding that Israel would be responsible for the “unforeseeable consequences and reactions to such stupid behaviour”.
In a joint statement, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon and the head of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon warned that intensification of the exchange of fire “could trigger a wider conflagration that would engulf the entire region in an unimaginable catastrophe”.
Israeli security forces and local residents gather at a site where a strike from Lebanon fell in Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, 27 July 2024 © PHOTO JALAA MAREY / AFP
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