2024-07-28 14:43:14
Israel’s military said Hezbollah fired a rocket from Lebanon that hit a soccer field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, killing youths between the ages of 10 and 20. Another 18 youths were injured in the attack, emergency services said.
“Israel will not allow this murderous attack to go unanswered, and Hezbollah will pay a heavy price, the likes of which it has never paid,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, according to a statement from his office.
Netanyahu later said he would hold a security cabinet meeting when he returned to Israel from the US.
The United Nations called for “utmost restraint” in a joint statement by its Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and the head of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Arold Lazar.
According to them, the increasingly intense exchange of fire “could ignite a wider conflagration across the region that could turn into a disaster of incredible proportions.”
The US National Security Council condemned what it called a “horrific attack”. “Our support for Israel’s security is ironclad and unwavering in the fight against all Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah,” the spokesman said in a statement.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned the “bloodshed” and called for an independent investigation.
Refuting Hezbollah
Hezbollah has previously claimed responsibility for several attacks on Israeli military targets after an airstrike killed four of its fighters in southern Lebanon. But she denied being responsible for the fatal blow to Majdal Shams.
“The Islamic Resistance has nothing to do with this incident,” the organization said, referring to its military wing.
But Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said early Sunday morning that the missile fired by Hezbollah was an Iranian Falaq 1 missile with a 50 kg warhead. This is a model that only Hezbollah has.
The Golan Heights is home to at least 25,000 Israeli settlers and at least 23,000 Druze, who traditionally follow a branch of Shia Islam and remained on the land after Israel occupied it.
Hours after the massacre in Majal Shams, a Lebanese security source said an Israeli drone fired two missiles at the village of Taraj in eastern Lebanon. The strikes destroyed a hangar and a residential building, but there were no casualties, a source told AFP on Sunday.
2024-07-28 14:43:14