By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked northern Israel on Saturday, killing at least ten people, threatening a full-scale war between the Lebanon-based group and Israel.
The ten people were killed when a Hezbollah rocket struck a soccer field in Majdal Shams, a large Druze town, Israel’s military said.
Among the victims were children and teenagers between the ages of 10 and 20, according to Israeli authorities.
At least 19 were wounded to varying degrees, including six seriously injured, three moderately, and ten lightly injured, including those suffering from anxiety attacks, rescue workers said.
The injured were reportedly transported to hospitals by Israel’s medical rescue group Magen David Adom teams and Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) helicopters.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesperson, said: “This evening, the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon fired a rocket at children playing soccer on a soccer field in Majdal Shams in northern Israel. Hezbollah then lied to the whole world and claimed they did not carry out this attack. This is a lie.”
Calling it a “horrific act,” the spokesman said that the Israeli military “extend our deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and stand with the Druze community during this difficult time. Our thoughts are with the injured, and we wish them a swift recovery.”
HAMAS COMPOUND
It came after Israel’s military struck a school near Deir al-Balah, a city in central Gaza, killing at least 30 Palestinians and injuring more than 100, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health. Those figures could not be verified independently.
The IDF said a Hamas command and control center was embedded inside the Khadija School.
The IDF added that Hamas used the compound as a hiding place to direct and plan attacks and store weapons.
The bloodshed raised fears the armed conflict would further undermine efforts to come to a long-lasting cease-fire in the region.
With clashes ongoing, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday met former U.S. President Donald J. Trump, the first
such meeting between the two men since Trump left the White House more
than three years ago.
The meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence was requested by Netanyahu and came on the heels of the prime minister’s address to the U.S. Congress, as well as meetings with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House.
Harris, now the presumptive Democratic
nominee conveyed a forcefulness on “civilian suffering” in Gaza and ending the war following her time with the prime minister.
CEASEFIRE DEAL
Netanyahu said he hoped Harris’ comments would not make a ceasefire deal harder to reach.
“I think to the extent that Hamas understands there’s no daylight between Israel and the United States, that expedites the deal,” Netanyahu said to reporters at his meeting with Trump. And I would hope that those comments don’t change that.”
Trump said Harris was “disrespectful to Israel” in her remarks to reporters after she met with Netanyahu.
“I think her remarks were disrespectful,” Trump added.
“They weren’t very nice about Israel. I actually don’t know how a person who is Jewish could vote for her, but that’s up to them,” the ex-president stressed.
Netanyahu left the United States earlier than planned to deal with the latest crisis impacting Israel following the attacks by Hezbollah and the strike in Gaza.
Netanyahu, in a conversation with the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, Sheikh Muafek Tarif, reportedly said that Hezbollah “will pay a heavy price for this that it has not paid so far.”
However, in a sign of rapidly escalating tensions, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned that “Any infringement by Israel on Lebanon’s national sovereignty will be met with a decisive and united response across the entire axis of resistance. I repeat, a firm and united response, make no mistake.”
Israel’s Security Cabinet was to meet on Sunday to discuss the crisis in Tel Aviv.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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