Rocket strike in Israeli-controlled Golan Heights kills 12, Tel Aviv vows response

Tel Aviv, July 28

A rocket strike on Saturday at a soccer field killed at least 12 children and teens, Israeli authorities said, in the deadliest strike on an Israeli target along the country’s northern border since the fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah began. It raised fears of a broader regional war.

Iran warns Israel against ‘new adventure’ in Lebanon

Dubai: Iran warned Israel on Sunday against what it called any “new adventure” in Lebanon, in a statement issued by foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani. Israeli authorities blamed Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah for a rocket attack that hit a football ground in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights killing 12 people on Saturday, and vowed to inflict a heavy response. Reuters

US does not want escalation: Blinken

Tokyo: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday he does not want to see an escalation of conflict on Israel’s northern border after Israel accused Hezbollah of killing 12 children and teenagers in a rocket attack in Golan Heights. “I emphasise (Israel’s) right to defend its citizens and our determination to make sure that they’re able to do that,” Blinken said. “But we also don’t want to see the conflict escalate. We don’t want to see it spread.” Reuters

Israel blamed Hezbollah for the strike in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, but Hezbollah rushed to deny any role. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Hezbollah “will pay a heavy price for this attack, one that it has not paid so far”.

The Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm Daniel Hagari, called it the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians since the Hamas attack on October 7 that sparked the war in Gaza. He said 20 others were wounded.

“There is no doubt that Hezbollah has crossed all the red lines here, and the response will reflect that,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Israeli Channel 12. “We are nearing the moment in which we face an all-out war.” Hezbollah chief spokesman Mohammed Afif told The Associated Press that the group “categorically denies carrying out an attack” on the town of Majdal Shams. It is unusual for Hezbollah to deny an attack.

The office of Netanyahu, who was on a visit to the United States, said he would cut short his trip by several hours, without specifying when he would return. It said he will convene the security Cabinet after arriving.

Far-right members of Netanyahu’s government called for a harsh response against Hezbollah. But an all-out war with a militant group with far superior firepower to Hamas would be trying for Israel’s military after nearly 10 months of fighting in Gaza.

Footage aired on Israeli Channel 12 showed a large blast in one of the valleys in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed in 1981. Some Druze have Israeli citizenship. Many still have sympathies for Syria and rejected Israeli annexation, but their ties with Israeli society have grown over the years.

The strike at the soccer field, just before sunset, followed earlier cross-border violence on Saturday, when Hezbollah said three of its fighters were killed, without specifying where.

Israel’s military said its air force targeted a Hezbollah arms depot in the border village of Kfar Kila, adding that militants were inside at the time. — AP