At Least 12 Killed in Rocket Attack From Lebanon in Golan Heights

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

At Least 12 ******* in Rocket ******* From Lebanon in Golan Heights

A rocket from Lebanon struck a soccer field on Saturday in the ********-controlled Golan Heights, ******** at least 12 people, mostly teenagers and children, according to the ******** military. It was the deadliest single ******* from across *******’s northern border in months of hostilities and raised fears of an escalation in the conflict.

******** officials accused Hezbollah, the politically powerful Lebanese armed group, of ******* the rocket and vowed to respond. Hezbollah denied responsibility, although the group did say it had launched several barrages of missiles at northern ******* on Saturday.

The ******** emergency rescue service, Magen David Adom, said that in addition to the 12 *****, about 20 people had been wounded, some of them seriously, in the Druse town of Majdal Shams. The ******** military said that the ages of those ******* or wounded ranged from 10 to 20 years old, and that they had been playing soccer at the time of the *******.

Idan Avshalom, a paramedic with Magen David Adom, described a “gruesome” scene at the soccer field, with bodies on the ground and fires burning. “We immediately began triage,” he said.

Even as ******* has waged a nearly 10-month-long war with ****** in Gaza to the south, it has traded ***** with Hezbollah to the north; both groups are backed by Iran, *******’s regional adversary. Hezbollah began ********* missiles and drones at ******* shortly after ****** launched its Oct. 7 ******* that set off the war in Gaza.

For months, the well-armed Hezbollah has fired thousands of missiles and drones at ******* in solidarity with ******, leading tens of thousands of Israelis to evacuate their homes. ******* has retaliated in Lebanon, devastating towns near the border, prompting more than 90,000 to flee north and ******** more than 460 people, mostly militants.

At the same time, the two sides have sought to avoid igniting a full-blown war, which would likely devastate both ******* and Lebanon. But experts have warned that a deadly miscalculation could ignite a broader escalation, and on both sides of the border, Israelis and Lebanese were left wondering on Saturday night whether the ******* on Majdal Shams was just that.

The ******* caught Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of ******* in the ******* States, where he has spent the last few days meeting with President Biden and Donald J. Trump, who is running for president again. Mr. Netanyahu’s office said he had instructed that his return flight be made as early as possible.

“******* will not overlook this murderous *******,” Mr. Netanyahu

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

in a statement distributed by his office. “Hezbollah will pay a heavy price which it has not paid up to now.”

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the ******** military spokesman, told reporters that the rocket that struck the soccer field was an Iranian model — a Falaq-1 — that carried a 50-kilogram warhead. He said that only Hezbollah possessed those rockets in Lebanon.

“We will act to restore full security on our northern border,” Admiral Hagari said.

******* seized the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 war, and it is home to more than 20,000 Druse ******. ******* effectively annexed the territory in 1981, a move that was widely rejected by the international community. Nearly four decades later, President Donald J. Trump signed a proclamation recognizing ******** sovereignty over the plateau, but other powerful countries have not followed suit.

There are four Druse villages in the Golan; their Arabic-speaking residents practice a largely esoteric religion that is often described as an offshoot of Ismaili Islam. While many residents feel loyal to Syria, thousands have become ******** citizens.

Residents of the town of Majdal Shams expressed horror and sadness in the wake of the deadly strike.

“I didn’t expect that our village would be hit, but it’s happened now,” said Madad al-Shaer, 50, an owner of a falafel and hummus restaurant. “No one is protected. It doesn’t matter if you’re living in a Druse or ******* village.”

Mr. Shaer, a father of three, said that his daughter frequently played at the soccer field that was struck, but that she was not there on Saturday.

In a

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

post, the Majdal Shams local council said that “a dark day” had befallen the village and called on people to stay in their homes.

The Biden administration has sought to mediate a truce between ******* and Hezbollah, including by dispatching Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to the president, to meet with senior officials in Jerusalem and Beirut.

“The ******* States will continue to support efforts to end these terrible attacks along the Blue Line, which must be a top priority,” the White House’s National Security Council said in a statement on Saturday, referring to the demarcation between *******, Lebanon and the Golan Heights. “Our support for *******’s security is ironclad.”

But Hezbollah has said it will not cease its attacks until ******* ends its campaign in Gaza — a prospect that ******** remote.

The strike on Majdal Shams was likely to increase the pressure on Mr. Netanyahu’s government to respond more forcefully to Hezbollah’s rocket and drone attacks, which have escalated in recent weeks.

Nearly 10 months into the war, the roughly 60,000 Israelis evacuated from communities near the border remain displaced. They have little idea of when they might return, and some say only a major operation against Hezbollah will make them feel safe enough to go back home.

Right-wing ******** lawmakers called for ******* to launch a major military operation against Hezbollah in response to the strike. Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right government minister, has argued for months that ******* should create a buffer zone inside Lebanon to drive Hezbollah away from the border.

“For the ****** of small children, Nasrallah should pay with his head.” Mr. Smotrich wrote on social media after the ******* on Saturday, referring to Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah. “Lebanon as a whole has to pay the price.”

Mohanad Hage Ali, a Beirut-based fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center, said that there would be a “strong ******** response” to the strike, but that Hezbollah would in turn demonstrate restraint so as not to risk all-out war.

Without naming Hezbollah or any other militant group, the Lebanese government condemned “all acts of ********* and aggression” against all civilians and called targeting them “a flagrant violation of international law.”

******* and Hezbollah last fought a major land war in 2006, after the Lebanese militants abducted and ******* ******** soldiers in a cross-border ambush. Large swaths of Beirut were devastated in the battle; Mr. Nasrallah later conceded that he would not have launched the ******* if he had foreseen its deadly consequences.

More than 1,000 Lebanese and 150 Israelis were ******* in the 2006 war. During that conflict, a rocket fired by Hezbollah ******* two ***** children in the city of Nazareth in *******. Mr. Nasrallah later made a public apology.

Euan Ward contributed reporting from Beirut, Lebanon, and Peter Baker from Washington.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#******* #Rocket #******* #Lebanon #Golan #Heights

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

For verified travel tips and real support, visit: https://hopzone.eu/