The Israeli military says it has carried out a series of moves across Lebanon after blaming Hezbollah for Saturday’s fatal attack in the occupied Golan Heights, while its Foreign Ministry said the Lebanese had crossed a “line red”, generating fears of a regional escalation.
The Israeli military said on Sunday that its jets bombed weapons depots and infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, Shabriha and Burj al-Shemali, near the southern city of Tyre, as well as the villages of Kfar Kila, Rab el-Thalathine. and Khiam. y Tayr Harfa.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday blamed Hezbollah for the rocket attack on a soccer field that killed 12 people.
“Saturday’s bloodbath constitutes the crossing of all red lines through Hezbollah. “This is not an army fighting another army, but a terrorist organization that intentionally shoots civilians,” the ministry said in a statement.
Hezbollah “categorically denied” any responsibility for this attack. There have been unconfirmed allegations that a malfunctioning Israeli interceptor missile may have caused the incident.
Iran, Hezbollah’s regional best friend, warned Israel that it opposes any “new adventure related to Lebanon,” and considered the Majdal Shams incident an “excuse. “
“After 10 months of massacres in the Gaza Strip and massacres of Palestinian youth and women, the Israeli apartheid regime is seeking to divert public opinion and world attention from its large-scale crimes in Palestine using a fabricated script,” he said. the Ministry of Education of Iran. Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said in a statement on Sunday that Israel would be guilty of any measures that could further destabilize the region.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was “every indication” that Hezbollah was behind the rocket attack, renewing Washington’s help for “Israel’s right to protect its citizens from terrorist attacks. ” .
Speaking at a press convention in Tokyo alongside U. S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday, he said the United States needed to see the standoff escalate after the Majdal Shams incident.
“We are determined to end the fighting in Gaza. This has been going on for too long. It will cost too many lives. We need to see the Israelis, we need to see the Palestinians, we need to see the Lebanese. living free from the risk of clashes and violence,” Blinken said, adding that the United States is in contact with the Israeli government.
In a report from Beirut, Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said the latest Israeli strikes were a message to Hezbollah, the reaction it promised.
“What we witnessed overnight was general activity, anything we have noticed in the last 10 months since Hezbollah opened a front in southern Lebanon to help the other Gazans,” he said.
According to Khodr, the Israeli reaction and the fact that it affects military or civilian targets may mark a “turning point” that will mark the trajectory of the border confrontation that began on October 8.
Israel’s security cabinet is expected to meet later Sunday to discuss the reaction to the rocket attack on Majdal Shams.
In a video message posted Sunday morning at the site of the attack, Israeli army leader Herzi Halevi reiterated that an Iranian-made Falaq rocket, used by Hezbollah since fighting began on the border last October, weighed 53 kilograms (116 kilograms). . pounds) a warhead hit the football field.
“It’s a Hezbollah rocket. And whoever fires a rocket of this type against an urban domain needs to kill civilians, he needs to kill children,” he stated.
Halevi added that the Israeli army is “reinforcing our preparation for the next level of fighting in the north” as it continues to attack the Gaza Strip with fatal effects.
He and the commanders met with Druze leaders and network members in the area.
The United Nations, the United States and the European Union condemned the attack. The UN and EU have suggested all sides show “restraint” in the face of an all-out war, with the 27-nation bloc’s foreign policy leader Josep Borrell calling for an “independent foreign investigation”.
According to the UN, more than 350 people, in addition to a hundred civilians, have been killed in repeated Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the start of the war on Gaza. Israeli officials say more than 30 people, in addition to 10 civilians, have been killed in attacks from Lebanon.