ISRAEL’S foreign minister has warned of an “all-out war” with Hezbollah after blaming the militant group for a rocket attack in the Golan Heights.
The missile hit a village in the Israeli-occupied region on Saturday night, killing 12 young people, including children.
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The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) quickly pointed the finger at Iran-backed Hezbollah, which operates in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah, a staunch supporter of the terrorist group Hamas, has launched new attacks against Israel since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip in October last year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a decisive meeting of his security cabinet following the attack and vowed revenge against the group.
The IDF has been preparing for a possible all-out conflict with Hezbollah for years, as fears of a war breaking out in the region grow following Saturday’s escalation.
Flights to Lebanon were suspended and four countries ordered their citizens to leave the country.
Netanyahu rushed back from a trip to the US to respond to the attack with photos showing him gathered around a table of military advisers on Sunday.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Channel 12 after Saturday’s attack that “Hezbollah has crossed all the red lines here, and the response will reflect that.”
He warned: “We are approaching the time when we will face all-out war.”
Hezbollah “categorically denied” any involvement after months of retaliatory exchanges across the border with Lebanon.
Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the US National Security Council, said on Sunday: “This attack was conducted by Lebanese Hezbollah.
“It was their rocket and launched from an area they control. It should be universally condemned.”
Civilians who are not part of the Israeli army or Hezbollah have died on both sides of the border as a result of fighting between the two.
Netanyahu promised that Hezbollah would “pay a heavy price” for the attack.
He said it would be unlike any consequence they had suffered before during a call with the leader of the Druze community.
The Golan Heights, annexed by Israel in 1981, is a community where more than half of its residents are of the Druze faith.
The missile hit a football pitch in a Druze village, Majdal Shams.
It came hours after Israel struck a Hezbollah target in Lebanon, killing four militants.
The IDF also attacked another school in Gaza on Saturday, which it says is being used by Hamas as a base for its operations, killing 30 people and wounding 100 others.
After the rocket launch on Saturday night, Israel said it retaliated by striking Hezbollah targets “deep within Lebanese territory.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been preparing for a possible Hezbollah invasion – and preparing to defend against one – for years.
The militant group is thought to have between 30,000 and 50,000 fighters and between 120,000 and 200,000 missiles, rockets, attack and reconnaissance drones.
They operate mainly in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese government condemned “all acts of violence and attacks against all civilians” on Saturday.
He called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts” in a statement, according to national media.
Groups that are “loyal to Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah are evacuating their sites south of Damascus, Quneitra and West Kalmon in anticipation of Israeli attacks,” the Syrian Observatory said.
Four countries urged their citizens to leave Lebanon as quickly as possible on Sunday following the escalation.
Saudi Arabia, France, Norway and Sweden have pushed for evacuation as Lebanon prepares for an attack, Al-Monitor reports.
Turkish Airlines and Air France also canceled all their flights on Sunday night to and from Lebanon’s main airport, Beirut – Rafic Hariri, according to reports.
Middle East Airlines, Lebanon’s national airline, also delayed some trips from outside the country to Beirut until Monday morning.
Six flights from London, Copenhagen and other parts of the Middle East had their departure times postponed from Sunday night to Monday.
On Sunday, Turkey bizarrely threatened to invade Israel amid the dramatic rise in tensions between Hezbollah and the IDF.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking about a dispute involving Libya and a region called Nagorno-Karabagh, said: “Just as we entered Karabakh and Libya, we will do the same with Israel.
Erdogan has strongly criticized Israel’s actions in Gaza and said: “We must be very strong so that Israel cannot do these things to Palestine.”
The Israeli military released images of the rocket allegedly used in Saturday’s attack, comparing it to an Iranian model.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
