Israel announces to Target Hezbollah in Lebanon as revenge for Rocket Attacks on Football Pitch.
On the night of Saturday, Israeli warplanes pummeled Hezbollah in Lebanon, citing provocation occasioned by a rocket spree on the Golan Heights that claimed the lives of twelve people, most of who were children.
Targets in Lebanon It attacked various Hezbollah targets deep in Lebanese territory and in southern Lebanon, intending to eliminate their weapons and terrorist structures situated in Chabriha, Borj El Chmali, Beqaa, Kfarkela, Rab El Thalathine, Khiam, and Tayr Harfa.
Hezbollah fired 16 Homemade rockets that hit the floor of a football pitch in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, a territory occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967 and 1981, respectively. Following the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised that Hezbollah would pay a hefty price. The attacks from Lebanon attributed to Hezbollah led to many losses of lives and many injuries; the emergency medical service in Israel, Magen David Adom, sent many ambulances to evacuate the injured, many of who were between the ages of 10 and 20 years.
From Netanyahu’s office, an official statement said that Netanyahu mourned the Druze’s casualties and assured that Hezbollah would suffer dire consequences. An official of the United Nations Interim Force for southern Lebanon or initiator of UN reconciliation said they were in touch with the Lebanese Ambassador and the Israelis to get a brief of the Majdal Shams episode and ensure orderliness.
The conflict escalated, and Hezbollah and other Lebanese militias have targeted Israel in return for Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip. In turn, Tel Aviv has bombed a maze of many locations deep inside the Lebanese territory. Lebanese official sources and human rights organizations have accused Israel of using white phosphorus in these attacks, but these allegations have not been proven.
About 200,000 persons had to flee from their homes in the area of the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon. This displacement has raised emotions in Israel with the government for them to do something regarding this by enacting stiff measures.
President of Israel Reuven Rivlin escalated the steps of the situation by adding, “The Hezbollah attack today crossed the red line, and the response will reflect this, and we are entering the request of war against Hezbollah and Lebanon. ”
However much Hizbollah is under fire for the shelling of Majdal Shams that led to the rocket strike, it has not accepted blame for the act. Hezbollah official Mohammad Afif said the group did not participate in the incident and accused some media outlets of spreading lies.
Lebanese government expressed outrage at the attack of Majdal Shams, terming it as a clear infringement of international law; Lebanon urged an end to the fighting to avoid the loss of civilian lives.
To the increasing feud, Netanyahu said he would deviate from his scheduled trip to the United States, where he had met with Biden, Kamala Harris, and Trump. The Israeli Defense Forces and Israeli officials have said that the attack and shelling of Majdal Shams were carried out by Hezbollah, thus aggravating the conflict even more.
A White House’s National Security Council official denounced the strike and affirmed the continuous support for Israel’s security while stressing the importance of working towards halting raids at the blue line.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smolensky and President Isaac Herzog also stated that they accused Hezbollah of the attack and described the attack as a shocking and terrible tragedy, specifically on children.
The clash emerged after Israel carried out an air raid on the Lebanon border village Kafr Kila that left four people dead, the majority of whom were Hezbollah operatives. Also, Israeli forces shot down a Lebanese drone heading towards an offshore gas rig; Lebanese media said that an Israeli drone attack in the border town of Odaisseh caused a fire.
