Another step forward in the conflict? An attack left 12 dead in the Golan annexed by Israel in Syria, Saturday July 27. Benjamin Netanyahu blames Hezbollah, the Lebanese ally of Hamas, which denies responsibility. The Israeli Prime Minister promises to make them “pay a high price”. Meanwhile in Gaza, an eighth attack by the Israeli army on a school leaves more than 30 dead, while the European Union desperately calls for a ceasefire and the United States reiterates its unwavering support for Israel.
Key information to remember
⇒ Attack leaves 12 dead in Syrian Golan annexed by Israel
⇒ Benjamin Netanyahu promises serious consequences for Lebanese Hezbollah
⇒ New attack on Gaza school kills 30
Deadly attack on the Golan Heights
The Israeli military said a rocket fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon killed 12 youths in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, located in Syrian territory. The victims, aged 10 to 20, were killed when a rocket hit a soccer field in Majdal Shams, the Israeli military said. According to its latest report, 18 other youths were wounded. Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian Islamist movement, denied being behind the rocket fire.
Hezbollah ‘will pay a high price’, Netanyahu promises
An attack “that will not go unanswered,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised on Saturday. The Lebanese Islamist movement “will pay a high price, a price it has never paid before,” he threatened in a statement from his office. He later announced that he would participate in a meeting of his security cabinet upon his return from a trip to the United States.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “Saturday’s massacre constitutes Hezbollah’s crossing of all red lines. This is not an army fighting another army, but a terrorist organization deliberately shooting at civilians.”
UN calls for calm
The UN urged “the parties to exercise maximum restraint,” in a joint statement by the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and the head of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Aroldo Lazaro. An intensification of the exchange of fire “could trigger a wider conflagration that would engulf the entire region in an unimaginable catastrophe,” they added.
White House reaffirms support for Israel
The White House responded by reaffirming the United States’ “unwavering support” for Israel and assuring “to support efforts to end these terrible attacks”. The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, condemned “this bloodbath” and called for an “independent international investigation”.
New attack on a school in Gaza
Meanwhile, on Saturday, in the war-torn Gaza Strip, an Israeli strike on “the Khadija school, which housed a makeshift medical unit in the Deir al-Balah region, was targeted (by a strike that) left 30 dead and more than 100 injured,” the Hamas Health Ministry said in a statement. This is at least the eighth time a school has been hit since July 6. According to the Gaza Civil Defense, the structure housed around 4,000 displaced people. The Israeli army said for its part that it had targeted “terrorists” who were operating from the school.
Josep Borrell condemned the strike and called for an end to “this madness”. The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reiterated his call for “an immediate ceasefire and the protection of civilians”. The offensive launched in response by Israel has left at least 39,258 dead, according to data from the Health Ministry of the Hamas-led Gaza government.
Israeli flag at the Olympics: Iraq’s request
The head of the Iraqi delegation to the Paris Olympics said he had asked the International Olympic Committee for the Israeli flag not to be flown alongside the Iraqi colours during the Games, but was met with a refusal. The head of the Palestinian Olympic Committee, for his part, assured on Saturday that the shirt worn the day before by the flag bearer of his delegation during the opening ceremony of the Paris Games had been “validated” by the French organisers.