Israel pledges to hit Hezbollah hard after rocket kills 12
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STORY: Thousands of mourners joined a funeral procession on Sunday for 12 children who were killed in a rocket attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. It marks the single deadliest attack in Israel or Israeli-annexed territory since Hamas' assault sparked the Gaza war on Oct. 7. And is fueling fears of significant escalation between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said he visited the town of Majdal Sham early on Sunday, describing the site of the attack as (quote) "a place where innocent girls and boys were murdered during a soccer game." He vowed to retaliate against Hezbollah for the strike. Hezbollah initially had announced it fired rockets at Israeli military sites in the Golan Heights, but denied involvement in the attack on Majdal Shams. ANTONY BLINKEN: "There is no justification for terrorism, period. And every indication is that indeed the rockets were from, or the rocket was from Hezbollah." U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Tokyo said Israel had the right to defend itself. But, he said, Washington also did not want to see a further escalation in violence. "We don't want to see it spread. That has been one of our goals from day one, from October 7th on." Majdal Shams is a Druze village. The Druze are an Arab minority who practice a form of Islam and make up more than half the 40,000-strong population of the Golan Heights... territory captured from Syria by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not recognized by most countries. Here's one resident who called himself Haitham. He says, "We need to strive now to sign a deal and stop this dammed war. We want to live, we don’t want to die.” Israeli and Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon have been exchanging fire for months but appeared to be avoiding an escalation that could lead all-out war. Saturday's strike threatened to tip the standoff into a more dangerous phase and United Nations officials urged maximum restraint from both sides. The conflict has forced tens of thousands of people in both Lebanon and Israel to leave their homes.
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