Israeli jets strike Hezbollah sites as tension escalates
Israeli planes attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon overnight. The moment of the attack was shown on recordings on Sunday morning. It is Israel's response to the rocket attack on a soccer field 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 12 a.m.
"Among the targets that were attacked in deep and southern Lebanon, IDF strongholds and terrorist infrastructures in the areas of Shabriha, Burj a-Shamali, Baka'a, Kfar Kila, Rab a-Taltin, al-Khyam and Tir Harfa," the statement on the X portal said.
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 soccer field 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 been becoming 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 were reached. The Israeli authorities said they wanted a diplomatic solution but were also ready 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, the Axios portal wrote.
