Israel vows to crack down on Hezbollah after rocket kills 12 at soccer stadium By Reuters
JERUSALEM/BEIRUT – Israel said on Sunday it would crack down on Hezbollah after it blamed the Iran-backed group for killing 12 children and teenagers during a rocket attack on a soccer field in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the attack on Majdal Shams, the deadliest attack on Israel or an Israeli-annexed area since an October 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the war in Gaza, which has since spread to many areas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ended his visit to the United States early and was expected to arrive in Israel later on Sunday and convene his security cabinet on Sunday afternoon to discuss Israel's response.
Meanwhile, families gathered for funerals in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, an area seized from Syria by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move unknown to many countries.
The football field was hit on Saturday evening. Hezbollah previously announced that it had fired rockets at Israeli military positions, but quickly denied involvement in the Majdal Shams attack, saying it had “nothing to do with this incident, and categorically denies all false allegations in this regard.”
“Contrary to its denials, Hezbollah is unequivocally responsible for yesterday's massacre,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said. “The rocket that killed our boys and girls was an Iranian rocket and Hezbollah is the only terrorist organization that has those in its territory.”
An Israeli military spokesman earlier told reporters that intelligence agencies identified the rocket as an Iranian-made Falaq-1. Hezbollah announced that it would launch a Falaq-1 missile on Saturday, saying it was aimed at Israeli military headquarters.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited Majdal Shams and said: “We will hit the enemy hard.”
The Israeli military said the rocket fire was carried out in an area north of the town of Chebaa in southern Lebanon.
Several airstrikes hit towns in southern Lebanon and one area in the eastern Bekaa Valley throughout the night and into Sunday morning, according to Lebanese security sources.
Israel's military said it struck a series of Hezbollah targets inside Lebanon overnight but any large-scale operation would require the approval of the security cabinet.
'CATASTROPHE BEYOND BELIEF'
The United States, which has been leading diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the conflict on the Lebanese-Israeli border, condemned it as a horrific attack but did not directly blame Hezbollah.
A statement issued by the White House said that US support for Israel's security is ironclad and “will continue to support efforts to end this heinous attack along the Blue Line, which must be a priority”. The Blue Line refers to the border between Lebanon and Israel.
The United Nations special envoy for Lebanon and the head of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon called for greater restraint on the Lebanon-Israel border early Sunday.
The Special Coordinator of the UN in Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and the commander of the UNIFIL forces, Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro, warned that the increase in strikes “may spread the flames that will engulf the entire region in an unimaginable disaster.”
A senior official focused on Lebanon said that all efforts are now needed to avoid an endless war.
The conflict has forced tens of thousands of people in Lebanon and Israel to flee their homes. Israeli strikes have killed approximately 350 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and more than 100 civilians, including medics, children and journalists.
Israel's military said after Saturday's attack that the number of civilians killed by Hezbollah rose to 23 since October, along with at least 17 soldiers.
Iran warned Israel on Sunday against what it called a “new adventure” in Lebanon, in a statement issued by Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani.
Hezbollah is a network of groups supported by Iran throughout the Middle East and began to open a second group against Israel shortly after the Oct. 7 for Hamas.
Iraqi and Yemeni Houthi groups fired at Israel. Hamas also attacked Israel with rockets from Lebanon, as did the Lebanese Sunni group, Jama'a Islamiya.
More than 40,000 people live in the Israeli-occupied Golan, more than half of whom are Druze. The Druze are an Arab minority who practice an offshoot of Islam.
