Israel Claims Lebanon's Hezbollah Responsible for Golan Heights Attack
18:05 GMT 27.07.2024 (Updated: 19:45 GMT 27.07.2024)
© AP Photo / Leo CorreaIsraeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept an attack from Lebanon over the Galilee region as seen from the Golan Heights, Thursday, July 18, 2024.
© AP Photo / Leo Correa
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz threatened a response to the Golan Heights strike, saying the country is approaching the moment of a full-scale war with Hezbollah and Lebanon.
The death toll from the shelling of the Golan Heights has risen to 11 children and teenagers, The Times of Israel newspaper reported, citing Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari.
"We are approaching the moment of full-scale war with Hezbollah and Lebanon ... We will pay a price on both the front and the home front, but by the end of the war, [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah and Hezbollah will be crushed, and Lebanon will suffer severely," Israeli news website Ynet quoted the minister as saying.
He vowed to "restore peace and security" to northern Israeli communities, adding that he had instructed his office to prepare a "comprehensive campaign worldwide" to gain legitimacy for the actions in Lebanon.
Israel holds Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah responsible for the recent attack on the Majdal Shams town in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Dmitri Gendelman, an advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said earlier.
"A rocket fired by Hezbollah hit children playing in a playground in the Golan Heights town of Majdal Shams. So far, nine Israeli children and teenagers have been killed and more than 30 injured ... Lebanon and the terrorist organization Hezbollah, acting under the guidance of Iran, are responsible for the aggression and its consequences," Gendelman said on Telegram.
Israel intends to "take stern measures" in response, the politician added.
Hezbollah has already denied involvement in this shelling, a senior Hezbollah source told Sputnik.
"We deny involvement in any attack on the occupied Syria's Golan and have nothing to do with any bombing on the town of Majdal Shams," the source stated.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently on a state visit to the United States, has decided to return to Israel "as quickly as possible," his office said on Saturday.
"Immediately upon learning of the disaster in Majdal Shams, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed that his return to Israel be brought forward as quickly as possible," the office said on X.