Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, has stated that the country is facing “all-out war” following a rocket attack by Hezbollah on the Israeli Druze Arab village of Majdal Shams, which resulted in the deaths of at least twelve people, including children. The rocket struck while children aged between ten and twelve were playing a soccer game on Saturday evening.
An eyewitness who spoke to Israel’s Channel 13 reported that the warning siren only sounded as the impact occurred. Initially, the Times of Israel stated that at least six people were killed, and thirty were wounded by the rocket attack; however, this number continued to rise throughout the night.
Katz expressed his belief that a long-awaited war might be inevitable after the horrific attack on a civilian target, as reported by the Times of Israel: “There is no doubt that Hezbollah crossed all red lines,” he told Channel 12 news. We are facing an all-out war.” Katz also acknowledged that there would be costs for Israel but insisted that the nation would exact an even higher cost from Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was visiting the U.S., was briefed on the attack and immediately cut short his trip to return to Israel, breaking the Jewish Sabbath to do so, which is permitted in matters of life and death.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said: “From the analysis of the IDF’s operational systems, the rocket launch at the center of Majdal Shams was carried out from an area located north of the village of Chebaa in southern Lebanon.” The IDF also revealed that they possess reliable intelligence information attributing the attack to Hezbollah.
In a bid to distance itself from the attack, partly due to the victims being children and also because there is a Druze population in southern Lebanon capable of rising up against Hezbollah if sufficiently provoked, Hezbollah appeared to deny responsibility for the incident.
Earlier, as reported by Breitbart News, Hezbollah had launched large barrages of rockets at Israel’s northern region. Fires were observed near the Church of the Beatitudes, further south; however, it remains unclear if there is a connection between these incidents and the Majdal Shams attack.