Netanyahu vows heavy price for Hezbollah after deadly Golan Heights strike
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The news: A rocket that struck a football field in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights along the country’s northern border killed 12 people, including children and teenagers who had been playing soccer at the time of the attack, Israeli authorities said.
Government officials blamed the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah for the attack on Saturday, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Iran-backed Lebanese group would "pay a heavy price, the kind it has thus far not paid."
Hezbollah denied any responsibility for the strike, but the group did say it had launched rocket attacks on Israeli military positions at other locations the same day.
On Saturday night, Israeli jets hit Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and “deep inside Lebanese territory,” targeting weapons caches and infrastructure, the military said.
The numbers: A further 20 people were wounded by the strike on the town of Majdal Shams, the deadliest on any Israeli or Israeli-annexed territory since the Hamas 7 October attack that triggered the war.
The context: The attack sharply escalated tensions and fears of a full-blown war in the region.
Hezbollah has been firing thousands of missiles and drones at Israel’s northern border in solidarity with Hamas, which has been battling Israel in Gaza at the cost of over 39,000 Palestinians lives.
Israel has evacuated thousands of Israelis from their homes, while in Lebanon, Israel's retaliation has devastated towns, displaced over 90,000 people and killed more than 460, mostly militants, according to The New York Times.
Both sides, however, have been trying to avoid a full-scale war, which could have devastating consequences for both Israel and Lebanon. Experts have warned that a fatal miscalculation could lead to a wider conflict.
What they said: The US condemned the attacks. The White House National Security Council in a statement said the country’s support for Israel's security was "iron-clad and unwavering against all Iranian backed terrorist groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah".
Lebanon’s government, in a statement urged an “immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts” and condemned all attacks on civilians. The statement did not mention Majdal Sham.
The sources: Reuters , The New York Times, Associated Press
