Israel warplanes carry out strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon, in apparent retaliation for Golan Heights attack
The rocket struck a football pitch in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, territory captured from Syria by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981, in a move not recognised by most countries.
Majdal Shams is one of four villages in the Golan Heights, where roughly 20,000-25,000 members of the Arabic-speaking Druze religious and ethnic group live.
Golan Heights is home to an estimated 50,000 Israeli Jewish settlers. Most Druze there identify as Syrian and many of them have rejected offers of Israeli citizenship.
Here are some of the latest images coming out of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. They were taken after 12 people, including children, were killed in a rocket strike on a football pitch in Majdal Shams:US intelligence officials believe Hezbollah carried out attack on Golan Heights but are unsure of the group’s intentions — source
US intelligence officials have no doubts that Hezbollah carried out the attack on the Golan Heights, but it was not clear if the Lebanese militant group intended the target or misfired, a source told the Associated Press. The Guardian has not yet verified this claim.
Israel blamed Hezbollah for the attack but the Iran-backed group — which has regularly targeted Israeli military positions — said it had no connection to the incident.
After news broke about the deadly strike on the football pitch in the occupied Golan Heights, the office of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was on a visit to the US, said he would cut short his trip by several hours, without specifying when he would return. It said he will convene the security Cabinet after arriving back in Israel. We are expecting this to be early this afternoon (GMT).
“Immediately upon learning of the disaster, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed that his return to Israel be brought forward as quickly as possible,” his office said.
Netanyahu, who is under huge pressure from Israelis to safely bring back hostages still in Gaza, met current US president Joe Biden, vice-president and likely Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, and former president Donald Trump during his diplomatic trip last week.
A ceasefire has been the subject of negotiations for months. US officials believe the parties are closer than ever before to an agreement for a six-week ceasefire in exchange for the release by Hamas of women, sick, elderly and injured hostages.Escalation of strikes between Israel and Lebanon could engulf region in a ‘catastrophe beyond belief’, UN warns
The United States, which has been leading diplomatic efforts aimed at de-escalating the conflict across the Lebanese-Israeli border (but also has been arming Israel), has condemned it as a horrific attack but did not directly accuse Hezbollah.
The statement from the White House said US support for Israel’s security was iron-clad and that it would “continue to support efforts to end these terrible attacks along the Blue Line, which must be a top priority”. The Blue Line refers to the frontier between Lebanon and Israel, which the UN peacekeeping mission, known as Unifil, is responsible for monitoring.
