BEIRUT: Lebanon on Sunday called for an international investigation into a strike that killed 12 people, including children, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and warned of massive retaliation.
Hezbollah on Saturday rejected Israel's accusation of the Majdal Shams bombing, saying in a statement that “the Islamic resistance has nothing to do with the incident at all and we categorically deny all false claims in this regard.”
After Hezbollah's statement, Walid Jumblatt, the former head of the Progressive Socialist Party – the most powerful Druze leader in Lebanon – warned of “what Israel's enemy is doing to incite strife, fragment the region and target its various communities”.
His warning came as Israel carried out intensive airstrikes on the villages of Al-Abbassieh and Burj Al-Shamali near Tire in southern Lebanon on Sunday morning, causing widespread destruction.
It also attacked the border villages of Tayr Harfa and Khiam and targeted a residential building in Taraya, central Bekaa with two rockets, destroying the building but causing no casualties.
The attack in Majdal Shams came hours after an Israeli airstrike on the southern border village of Kfarkila killed four Hezbollah members.
The Lebanese government condemned “all acts of violence and attacks against all civilians” in a statement, adding that “the targeting of civilians is a flagrant violation of international law and against the principles of humanity.”
He called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts”.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib said in a statement on Sunday that “since the beginning of the war, Hezbollah has targeted military targets and not civilians, and I do not think it carried out this attack in Majdal Shams.”
He added: “Maybe other organizations are planning this… an Israeli mistake or even a mistake on the part of Hezbollah, I don't know. We need an international investigation to uncover the truth.”
In a joint statement, UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and UNIFIL Mission Commander and Force Commander Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lazaro condemned “the death of civilians, including young children and adolescents, in Majdal Shams,” stressing that “civilians must be protected at all times.”
They called on “the parties to exercise maximum restraint and stop the continued escalation of firefights, as they could ignite a wider conflagration that would engulf the entire region in an incredible disaster.”
The UN Special Coordinator spoke on the phone with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is considered the most important channel of communication with Hezbollah.
According to his press office, Berri confirmed that “Lebanon and its resistance are committed to UN Resolution 1701 and the Rules of Engagement by refraining from targeting civilians.”
Berri added that “the resistance's denial of involvement in the Majdal Shams incident strongly confirms this commitment and emphasizes that neither Lebanon nor the resistance is responsible for what happened”.
UNIFIL spokeswoman Andrea Tenenti said her organization was in contact with the parties to diffuse tensions.
Jumblatt received a phone call from US Middle East mediator Amos Hochstein, who expressed concern over the escalating situation on the southern Lebanese front following the Majdal Shams incident.
Jumblatt tried to diffuse the situation because the majority of Majdal Shams residents are Druze.
He said that “the targeting of civilians is rejected and condemned, whether it is in occupied Palestine, the occupied Golan, or southern Lebanon,” adding that “the history of Israel's enemy is full of massacres against civilians.”
Activists and supporters on TV channels and social media platforms denied Hezbollah's involvement in the Majdal Shams attack, noting that “there are no settlers in Majdal Shams for the party to target and it knows it”.
Hezbollah's denials were of no use as the Israeli military insisted that the party was responsible for the rocket launch.
Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said: “Ali Mohammed Yahya, the commander of the launch complex in the Shebaa area, ordered rockets to be launched towards the village of Majdal Shams.”
Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon on Sunday caused massive destruction but caused no casualties. The targets of the raids were two large hangars in Al-Abbassieh and Burj Al-Shemali.
Regular airstrikes in the area since the start of hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israeli army have caused panic among residents and damaged dozens of houses and apartments.
A Lebanese security source said: “Seven Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes simultaneously.”
Adraee claimed that the airstrikes hit Hezbollah targets in seven different areas across Lebanon, deep into Lebanon and its south, including weapons depots and infrastructure.
Hezbollah responded to the attacks by targeting “the deployment of Israeli soldiers in the settlement of Manara,” according to the party's statement.
Israeli officials continued to vow on Sunday to make Hezbollah pay.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: “This is a very difficult and painful event for these children. It's a terrible tragedy. Hezbollah is responsible for this and will pay.”
Gallant was speaking during a visit to Majdal Shams, where funeral processions were held for his victims.
Israeli Chief of Staff General Herzi Halevi visited Majdal Shams on Saturday night, according to Adraee.
General Halevi inspected the affected football field and confirmed readiness for the next phase of the fight in the north.
“We know exactly where the rocket was fired from,” he said. “We examined the remains of the racket on the walls of the football field.
“We can say that it was a Falaq missile with a 53 kg warhead. This is a Hezbollah rocket. Whoever launches such a rocket towards a populated area intends to kill civilians, intends to kill children as well.”
Reuters, citing two security sources, said Hezbollah was “on high alert and has evacuated some key locations in eastern and southern Lebanon.”
France and Norway urged their citizens to “avoid traveling to Lebanon and Israel” and asked those in the country to leave Lebanon.
