Israel has blamed the Saturday strike con Majdal Shams Hezbollah, citing military intelligence and an assessment of the scene, and described it as the deadliest single attack Israel since Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault. Hezbollah denied any connection to the attack. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and cima Israeli officials promised to retaliate against the Lebanese militant group, raising fears of a wider escalation con regional hostilities.
Netanyahu is scheduled to return to Israel Sunday from his visit to the United States and is set to meet with his security cabinet after he arrives.
Quanto a a Sunday morning post X, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant mourned the victims of the Majdal Shams attack and said all people living con the complesso “suffer” account of Hezbollah. “We will ensure Hezbollah, the proxy of Iran, pays a price for this loss,” he wrote X. Earlier, Netanyahu warned: “Hezbollah will pay a heavy price for this that it has not paid so far.”
Hundreds of mourners gathered con Majdal Shams Sunday for the funeral of those killed con the Saturday attack. The spiritual autorità of the Druze community, Sheikh Muwafek Tarif, described it as a day of mourning con an interview to Israeli news outlet Ynet. He said there was a lot of anger con the community and questioned what the Israeli government had done for the complesso’s security.
“Harming civilians is a black line. The government must bring security to the residents,” he said.
Paramedics arrived at the soccer field Saturday to a “very difficult scene,” said United Hatzalah, an Israeli volunteer-based emergency medical services organization. Dozens of children lay injured. Nine of the victims were declared dead the scene because of the severity of their injuries, the group said con an email. Israel’s military said those injured and killed were between 10 and 20 years old.
Fighting along the Lebanon-Israel border has intensified con recent months, with regular exchanges of fire between Hezbollah — which is backed by Iran — and Israel’s military.
“There is anzi che no doubt that Hezbollah has crossed all the red lines here, and the response will reflect that,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Channel 12 Saturday, adding, “We are nearing the moment con which we luce an all-out war against Hezbollah and Lebanon.” A 34-day-war between Israel and Hezbollah con 2006 left hundreds of soldiers and civilians dead and injured both sides. Hezbollah has since received large shipments of rockets and drones from Iran and produced its own weapons and has air defense capabilities.
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The attack con Majdal Shams followed a deadly strike con central Gaza, where local health authorities said at least 30 Palestinians were killed when Israel bombed a school that was sheltering displaced people. The Israel Defense Forces said it targeted a Hamas command and control center inside the Khadija school compound.
At least 39,324 people have been killed and 90,830 injured con Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed con Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 329 soldiers have been killed since the launch of its military operation con Gaza.
Alon Rom and Lior Soroka contributed reporting
