The United States on Monday cautioned Israel about escalation with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah as Israel weighs its response to a rocket attack from Lebanon over the weekend that killed 12 youths in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights.
The attack has again increased concerns about a wider regional conflict. Cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has occurred almost daily since the war in Gaza began in October. On Monday, Israeli strikes killed two people on a motorcycle and injured three others in southern Lebanon, Lebanon’s state-run news agency said. Israeli military officials said only that it had struck Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure.
An official with a Lebanese group told The Associated Press that Hezbollah group has started moving precision-guided missiles but doesn’t want a full-blown war with Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the site of the rocket attack on Monday, but some residents of the Druze village protested by tossing his wreath aside and saying the tragedy shouldn’t be used for political purposes.
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Israeli military detains soldiers after allegations of abuse at centre
The Israeli military says it is holding nine soldiers for questioning following allegations of “substantial abuse” of a detainee at a shadowy facility where Israel has held Palestinian prisoners throughout the war in Gaza.
The military said its top legal official had launched a probe. An investigation by The Associated Press and reports by rights groups have exposed abysmal conditions at the Sde Teiman facility, the country’s largest detention centre.
The military has generally denied ill-treatment of detainees. Following the accusations, Israel has said it is transferring the bulk of Palestinian detainees out of Sde Teiman and upgrading it. The detentions of soldiers prompted an outcry among members of Israel’s far-right government, who condemned the investigation as an affront to their service.
Israel has detained thousands of Palestinians since the Hamas attack on October 7, according to official figures, though hundreds were released after the military determined they were not affiliated with the militant group. Israeli human rights groups say the majority of detainees have passed through Sde Teiman.
Blinken urges against escalation in Israel-Hezbollah conflict in call with Herzog
Thousands of mourners laid to rest on Monday the 12th victim of a rocket strike from Lebanon that hit a soccer field in Israeli-controlled territory, an attack that risked pushing the region toward all-out 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 clad in black. Pictures of the smiling boy were hoisted up as his body, shrouded in white, was moved through the streets.
Ibrahim was one of 12 children and teens between the ages of 10 to 16 who were killed when a rocket struck a soccer field. It was the deadliest attack on Israel or Israeli-controlled territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.
The strike’s other victims 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 strike, 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 an escalation in the fighting.
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging cross-border fire since Oct. 8, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza
