12 children were killed in a rocket attack on a soccer field in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights on Saturday. Israel blamed Hezbollah for the attack and PM Netanyahu gave a stern warning to Hezbollah while also cutting short his US visit.
On Saturday just before sunset, a rocket slammed into a soccer pitch where dozens of children and teens were playing in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, which is located about 12 kilometres south of Lebanon and next to the Syrian border.
Israel blamed Hezbollah for the strike in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, but Hezbollah rushed to deny any role. Netanyahu warned that Hezbollah “will pay a heavy price for this attack, one that it has not paid so far."
Since October last year, Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed more than 450 people, mostly Hezbollah members, but also around 90 civilians and non-combatants. On the Israeli side, 44 have been killed, at least 21 of them soldiers.
The Israeli military reported that "multiple projectiles and suspicious aerial objects" had crossed into its territory from Lebanon, with many intercepted. No casualties were reported immediately.
Nasser is the highest-ranking official from the Iran-backed group to be killed since Taleb Sami Abdullah, who died in an airstrike on June 11. In a speech commemorating Abdullah, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah emphasised his pivotal role on the front lines.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the phase of intense fighting against Hamas in the Gaza Strip was coming to an end but that the war would not end until the Islamist group no longer controls the Palestinian enclave.
Prospects of another simmering regional conflict grew as Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets toward Israel in retaliation for the death of a senior commander killed in an Israeli airstrike. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the group already has 100,000 fighters to fight a war.
Earlier, in January also, the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group launched at least 62 rockets towards northern Israel in what it called an "initial response" to the targeted killing of senior Hamas leader.
Hezbollah is believed to have carried out the attack that killed the Indian national Patnibin Maxwell from Kerala in northern Israel. Hezbollah has been launching rockets, missiles, and drones at northern Israel daily since October 8 in support of Hamas amid the war in Gaza.
Hezbollah has been exchanging near-daily fire with Israel across Lebanon's southern border after a war broke out between its Palestinian ally and Israel on October 7. The US says that Israel would be willing to halt its war on Hamas in Gaza during Ramadan if a hostage deal is reached.
Hezbollah warned Israel would "pay the price" for killing ten civilians,0 including five children, in Lebanon. The latest escalation has fuelled concerns of a wider confrontation between the Hezbollah and Israel amid the war in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians have been killed.
There were conflicting reports on the number of those killed, with US officials saying the initial assessment was one, and saying there were no civilians hurt or killed.
White House national security adviser Sullivan declined to be drawn on whether the United States might attack sites inside Iran, something the US military has been very careful to avoid.
However, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, when asked about the matter at a news briefing following the media report, stopped short of confirming the drone's origin. "We're still doing the forensics," he said.
Doctors Without Borders and other aid groups withdrew from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in recent days, saying it was too dangerous.
Hezbollah had threatened to retaliate against Israel following an alleged Israeli strike in Beirut that killed Hamas' deputy political leader Saleh al-Arouri earlier this week. Israel has claimed to have struck a "terrorist cell" in retaliation as the war threatens to expand across the Middle East.
The United States has sought to prevent any widening of the conflict, including by deploying two aircraft carriers and other military assets to the region. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was expected in the region this week.
The 57-year-old Saleh al-Arouri became the first senior Hamas political leader to be assassinated since Israel attacked Gaza in a devastating campaign. If Israel is found behind the attack it could mark a major escalation in the Middle East conflict, taking it beyond the Gaza Strip.
PM Modi said that insecurity and instability in West Asia is a matter of concern for all countries in the forum. This comes after Qatari mediators negotiated a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas in exchange for 50 hostages.#narendramodi #g20summit #indiatvnews
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