RTSat, 27 Jul 2024 19:30 UTC
© Jalaa Marey/AFP)Israel security forces and medics transport casualties from a soccer field where a rocket fired by Hezbollah in Lebanon killed at least 12 young people in Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights • July 27, 2024
Hezbollah "crossed all lines" with a rocket attack that killed ten people, Israel Katz has said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has vowed to launch
a "disproportionate" response after Hezbollah allegedly killed ten people in a rocket attack on a football field in the Golan Heights. The incident has brought Israel to the brink of "all-out war" with the group, Katz has warned.
Most of the dead were children, and more than a dozen were injured by the strike in the town of Majdal Shams on Saturday, according to Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) blamed the attack on "the Hezbollah terror group."Katz told Israel's Channel 12 News:
"There is no doubt that Hezbollah crossed all red lines. We are facing an all-out war. Israel will respond disproportionately."
Katz said that he would "not go into detail" on what such a response would look like, but
claimed that Israel has the "full backing" of the US and Europe to escalate against Hezbollah.
© Jalaa Marey/AFPIsraeli security forces near the site of a rocket strike in Majdal Shams to evacuate wounded • Golan Heights, July 27, 2024
The powerful Iranian-backed political movement and paramilitary force entered the Israel-Hamas conflict last October. Its fighters have so far waged a limited campaign of tit-for-tat drone and missile strikes on northern Israel, which
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in November was aimed at tying up Israeli forces near the Lebanese border to prevent their deployment to Gaza.Officials in Washington have cautioned both Hezbollah and Israel against igniting a full-scale war, which could potentially escalate into a major conflict involving the US and Iran.
Ever since the Israel-Hamas war began, Katz and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have suggested on several occasions that
a war with Hezbollah may be imminent. These statements typically follow larger-than-usual strikes by the group or incidents perceived as embarrassing to the Israeli military.
When Hezbollah flew a surveillance drone over the Israeli port of Haifa last month, Katz declared:
"We are getting very close to the moment of deciding on changing the rules of the game against Hezbollah and Lebanon. In an all-out war, Hezbollah will be destroyed and Lebanon will be severely beaten."
Hezbollah has claimed that it had "no connection" to the attack on Majdal Shams. However, the group has claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on a nearby military base, which it described as
retaliation for the deaths of three of its fighters in an Israeli airstrike earlier on Saturday morning.
Comment: Additional information from
The Times of Israel:
At least 12 children were killed Saturday, and dozens more people were wounded, when a rocket fired from Lebanon hit a soccer field in the northern Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. It was the single deadliest Hezbollah attack on northern Israel since fighting there began in October.
© Israel Defense ForcesAftermath of deadly rocket attack on soccer field in northern Golan Heights of Majdal Shams
Residents and first responders described scenes of bloody carnage on the pitch. Though a warning siren had sounded, it was too short an alert for the victims, who were unable to flee in time. The IDF said late Saturday that all 12 fatalities were aged 10-20.
The shocking attack led to swift promises of retaliation and talk of an unprecedented response among Israeli officials as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hurried home from the US, raising the specter of a fresh escalation and a potential full-blown war between Israel and the Lebanese terror group.
A Biden administration official expressed concern that the deadly Hezbollah strike could spark an all-out war between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group. "What happened today could be the trigger we have been worried about and tried to avoid for 10 months."
Politicians from across the spectrum expressed outrage at the attack and criticized the government's failure to bring security to the north demanding decisive action against Hezbollah.
Baruch Padeh Medical Center near Tiberias said four people in serious condition were brought to the hospital. Ziv Medical Center in Safed said it admitted 32 wounded, including six being treated in the trauma ward, 13 in moderate-to-serious condition, and 10 who were lightly hurt. Another four casualties were taken to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.
Medics declared 10 of the victims dead at the scene, while two were declared dead at hospitals, officials said.
© Michael Giladi/Flash90Israeli rescue forces seen at the site
"We witnessed great destruction when we arrived at the soccer field, as well as items that were on fire. There were casualties on the grass and the scene was gruesome," said Idan Avshalom, a medic with the Magen David Adom ambulance service.
As news emerged of the heavy rocket hitting the Druze town, and the deadly outcome of the strike, the terror group issued a statement that it had "absolutely nothing to do with the incident." The army rejected that assertion, saying the attack "was carried out by the Hezbollah terror group" while citing "assessments carried out by the IDF and reliable intelligence information available to us."
The IDF said it had determined that the rocket was launched by the terror group from an area just north of the Lebanese village of Chebaa.
"A Falaq-1 rocket struck here in the soccer field, it is an Iranian rocket, manufactured in Iran, a rocket with a warhead of over 50 kilograms of explosives. The forensic findings at the scene point to this rocket. Falaq-1 is only in use by the Hezbollah terror group, which carried out this attack from Chebaa...In the past hour, Hezbollah has been lying and denying responsibility for the incident...Our intelligence is clear, Hezbollah is responsible for the murder of innocent children."
Col. Avichay Adraee said the attack was directed by Ali Muhammad Yahya, who is the commander of a rocket launching site in the Chebaa area.
Israeli officials signaled the military response to the Hezbollah rocket attack would likely be a very aggressive one. "Gallant determined the courses of action and instructed the defense establishment accordingly," the Defense Ministry said in a statement. The minister had held an assessment with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, head of the Shin Bet Ronen Bar, head of the Mossad David Barnea, and other officials.
Channel 12 cited a senior Israeli official in the prime minister's delegation to Washington as saying: "The events in the north will bring about a dramatic turning point in fighting in the area."
A security official told the public broadcaster:
"The disaster at Majdal Shams could signal a change of direction in the war. This is an incident that we will not gloss over. There will be a severe response."
© Prime Minister's OfficePM Benjamin Netanyahu • military secretary Gen. Roman Gofman discuss deadly attack on Majdal Shams • July 27, 2024
Netanyahu, who was still in the US on Saturday after his speech to Congress and meetings with top American officials, moved up his flight back to Israel by several hours following the attack.
The attack came after the IDF on Saturday afternoon struck a cell of Hezbollah gunmen at a weapons depot in southern Lebanon's Kafr Kila. The military said the operatives were identified by troops of the 869th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit entering the weapons depot, and a short while later, an airstrike was carried out. Hezbollah later confirmed that four of its operatives, members of the terror group's elite Nukhba force, were killed in the strike.
As per
Reuters:
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was every indication that the rocket, which hit a sports field where children were playing football, had been fired by Hezbollah and said Washington stood by Israel's right to defend itself. But he said the U.S. did not want a further escalation of the conflict, which has seen daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and Hezbollah along the border. Britain expressed concern at further escalation while Egypt said the attack could spill "into a comprehensive regional war."
It was not immediately clear if the children and teenagers killed in the strike were Israeli citizens, but Israeli officials have vowed retaliation.
Two security sources told Reuters Hezbollah was on high alert and had cleared out some key sites in both Lebanon's south and the eastern Bekaa Valley in case of an Israeli attack. Lebanon's Middle East Airlines said it was delaying the arrival of some flights from Sunday night to Monday morning, without stating why.
United Nations officials urged maximum restraint from both sides, warning that escalation could "engulf the entire region in a catastrophe beyond belief." Lebanon has asked the U.S to urge restraint from Israel, Lebanon's foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib said the U.S. had asked Lebanon's government to pass on a message to Hezbollah to show restraint as well.
Iran's foreign ministry warned Israel on Sunday against what it called any new adventure in Lebanon. Syria's foreign ministry said it held Israel "fully responsible for this dangerous escalation in the region" and said its accusations against Hezbollah were false. Two diplomats focused on Lebanon said all efforts were now needed to avoid an all-out war.
Druze communities live on both sides of the line between southern Lebanon and northern Israel as well as in the Golan Heights and Syria.
And, then there is
THIS:
Israel has done what Israel does best: Falsify accusations to create opportunistic circumstances to further its diabolical agenda and engage global support at the expense of (this time) the lives of its own children.
"An Israeli ambulance member heard from eyewitnesses that an interception missile was what fell in Majdal Shams, and some said that they saw a missile launched from the Iron Dome from Mount Hermon and it fell towards the stadium."
Impeccable Timing: This deadly and heart-wrenching accident was conveniently appropriated for Netanyahu's war/hate agenda on the heels of his Washington DC pep rally. The man can't stoop too low fast enough.
See also:
Israel's FM claims 'moment of an all-out war' with Hezbollah approaching; Netanyahu leaves US early
Comment: Additional information from The Times of Israel: As per Reuters: And, then there is THIS: Impeccable Timing: This deadly and heart-wrenching accident was conveniently appropriated for Netanyahu's war/hate agenda on the heels of his Washington DC pep rally. The man can't stoop too low fast enough.
See also:
Israel's FM claims 'moment of an all-out war' with Hezbollah approaching; Netanyahu leaves US early