Israeli strikes hit Hezbollah targets after deadly rocket attack
Israeli planes attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon overnight. The moment of the attack was shown in recordings released on Sunday morning. It is Israel's reaction to the rocket attack on a football pitch in Majdal Shams on Saturday, which killed 12 people, primarily children.
"Overnight, the IAF struck a series of Hezbollah terror targets both deep inside Lebanese territory and in southern Lebanon," the Israeli Air Force (IAF) reported before 4 am.
"Among the targets attacked in deep and southern Lebanon were strongholds and terrorist infrastructure in the areas of Shabriha, Burj a-Shamali, Baka’a, Kfar Kila, Rab a-Taltin, al-Khyam, and Tir Harfa," said a statement on the X portal.
Lebanese media also reported several Israeli airstrikes on targets in the south of the country.
Attack on the pitch in Majdal Shams
As reported by the Israeli army, in Hezbollah's rocket attack on the Druze-majority town of Majdal Shams in the northern Golan Heights, 12 people were killed and over 30 wounded. Rockets fell on a football pitch on Saturday, and all the victims were children and young people aged 10 to 20. Hezbollah denies responsibility for the attack.
It was the bloodiest attack on Israeli civilians since the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023. Since then, Hezbollah, which controls southern Lebanon and is backed by Iran, has been regularly shelling northern Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced a response to Saturday's shelling.
The Israeli army's chief of staff, Gen. Herzi Halevi, announced that the attack would be met with a "very, very significant response." "We will hit Hezbollah hard," he stressed.
Threat of full-scale conflict
In recent weeks, the situation has become increasingly tense, raising fears of the outbreak of a full-scale conflict. Hezbollah leaders declared they were ready to stop their attacks if a truce in the Gaza Strip was reached. The Israeli authorities stated they wanted a diplomatic solution but were also prepared for a military option to restore security to the northern border.
The Biden administration is highly concerned that a rocket attack from Lebanon that killed 12 people in the Golan Heights could lead to an all out war between Israel and Hezbollah, Axios reported.
