Israel-Hamas war latest: Israeli strike kills 2 in southern Lebanon, Lebanese media say

Israeli strikes killed two people and wounded three others in southern Lebanon early Monday, Lebanon’s state news agency said. It came as Israel weighs its response to a rocket attack from Lebanon over the weekend that killed 12 young people in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

Monday’s attacks did not appear to be Israel’s response to the deadly attack as concerns continue about a broader regional war, but rather to cross-border fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group that has occurred almost daily since the war in Loop It started in October.

Lebanese state media said the Monday morning attack hit a motorcycle near the Lebanon-Israel border, killing two motorcyclists and wounding a child. No further information was immediately available. Also on Monday, two people were wounded in another attack in southern Lebanon, Lebanese state media reported.

Israeli military officials said only that the army had attacked Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure.

Here’s the latest:

TEL AVIV, Israel – Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has told the families of some of the 12 children and teenagers killed in a rocket attack over the weekend that Hezbollah “will pay a price” for the attack. Hezbollah in Lebanon, backed by Iran, has denied carrying it out.

The rocket hit a soccer field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. It was the deadliest attack on civilians in Israel or Israeli-controlled territory since the Hamas attack on October 7.

During his visit, Gallant told families that “we will let the actions speak for themselves.” Israel has been weighing how to respond to the attack, raising fears that Israel and Hezbollah are moving toward all-out war. Enemies have exchanged cross-border fire since October 8, a day after the Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza.

BEIRUT – The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has begun moving precision-guided missiles as Israel threatens to launch an attack on Lebanon following the weekend attack that killed 12 children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

An official with a Lebanese group told The Associated Press that Hezbollah’s stance has not changed and that the Iran-backed group does not want an all-out war with Israel, but if war breaks out it will fight without limits.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military activities, said that since Sunday Hezbollah has begun moving some of its “precision-guided smart missiles” for use if necessary.

Since the war in Gaza began in October, Hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets and dozens of explosive drones at Israel. Israel estimates that Hezbollah has an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles, including precision-guided missiles.

—Bassem Mroue in Beirut

BEIRUT – There was a flurry of diplomatic activity in Lebanon on Monday ahead of expected Israeli retaliation for an attack that killed 12 children and teenagers in a town in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

Lebanese interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati has maintained “intensive diplomatic contacts following recent Israeli threats against Lebanon,” including a call with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who “renewed the call for all parties to act with restraint to avoid escalation,” Mikati’s office said. in a sentence.

Lammy posted on social media site

“We both agreed that expanding the conflict in the region benefits no one,” he said.

Also on Monday, Hezbollah foreign affairs chief Ammar Moussawi met with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, according to a Lebanese diplomat and a Hezbollah official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment. publicly about the matter.

The diplomatic official said there had also been a flurry of calls from Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to US President Joe Biden who frequently handles sensitive negotiations in Lebanon, trying to ensure that Israeli retaliation and Hezbollah’s response do not spiral into a spiral. of total violence. war.

Israel accused Hezbollah of firing the rocket that hit a soccer field in the town of Majdal Shams over the weekend. Hezbollah denied responsibility, a rare move by the militant group.

—Abby Sewell

MAJDAL SHAMS, Golan Heights – Thousands of mourners on Monday buried the 12th victim of a rocket attack from Lebanon that hit a soccer field in Israeli-controlled territory, an attack that risked pushing the region toward a total war.

The body of 11-year-old Guevara Ibrahim was carried through the streets of the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights in a procession of people dressed in black. Photographs of the smiling boy were posted as his body, wrapped in white, was carried through the streets.

Ibrahim was one of 12 children and adolescents between 10 and 16 years old who died when a rocket hit a soccer field. It was the deadliest attack on Israel or Israeli-controlled territory since the Hamas attacks on October 7.

The other victims of the attack were buried on Sunday, but Ibrahim’s body was not immediately identified and he was initially considered missing, Israeli media reported.

Israel blamed Hezbollah for Saturday’s attack, but in an unusual move the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group denied involvement.

Israel is expected to retaliate and the region is bracing for the possibility of escalating fighting.

Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging cross-border fire since October 8, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel, sparking war in Gaza.

CAIRO – Egyptian and Hamas officials said Monday that mediators negotiating a ceasefire deal in Gaza were still working to iron out differences.

The officials, who have direct knowledge of the negotiations, said contentious points include Israeli demands to maintain a presence in a strip of land on the Gaza-Egypt border known as the Philadelphia corridor, as well as along a highway that separates the south and north of Gaza. .

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive conversations with the media.

They said Israel refuses to leave the area between Egypt and Gaza during the ceasefire. They said Israel has linked the departure of its forces from the border corridor to the installation of underground sensors and an underground wall to monitor any future efforts by Hamas to build tunnels or smuggle weapons. Israel officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Israel says Hamas uses tunnels under the corridor to smuggle weapons, although Egypt denies the charge and says it destroyed many in a previous offensive.

The Israeli military took control of the Philadelphia corridor in early May along with the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza as it began its invasion of the city of Rafah, further south in Gaza.

The Egyptian official said no agreement had been reached on the corridor and the reopening of Rafah, adding that direct negotiations between Egypt and Israel were continuing to find a compromise.

Meanwhile, the Hamas official rejected Israel’s demands, including its desire to keep Israeli troops along the highway that divides Gaza in half, which is intended to screen Palestinians returning to their homes in the northern Gaza and eliminate any militants.

The Hamas official said the group will deliver its written response to Qatar and Egypt in the coming days.

Both officials said Hamas still wants “written assurances” from mediators that negotiations will continue during the first phase of the ceasefire to establish a permanent truce.

CIA Director William Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani and Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel met with Mossad chief David Barnea in Rome on Sunday to discuss Israel’s latest demands.

—Samy Magdy

TEL AVIV, Israel – The Middle East is bracing for a possible outbreak of violence after Israeli authorities said a rocket launched from Lebanon hit a soccer field in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, killing 12 children and teenagers. in what the army called the deadliest. attack against civilians since October 7.

Saturday’s attack raised fears of a broader regional war between Israel and Hezbollah, which in a rare move denied responsibility.

The White House National Security Council said it was speaking with its Israeli and Lebanese counterparts and working on a diplomatic solution to “end all attacks once and for all” in the Israel-Lebanon border area.

The Israeli military said it struck several targets inside Lebanon overnight Sunday, although their intensity was similar to months of cross-border fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah. Hezbollah said it also carried out attacks. There were no immediate reports of casualties.