Israel launches retaliatory strikes after rocket attack on Golan Heights – POLITICO

“This is a Hezbollah rocket. And whoever fires such a rocket into a built-up area wants to kill civilians, wants to kill children,” said Herzi Halevi, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, during a visit to the football field.

The attack on the Golan Heights was the deadliest in Israel or the territories it annexed since the conflict in the Gaza Strip began last October. Hezbollah and Israel have been trading blows in areas along the Lebanese-Israeli border, but the rocket attack and retaliatory airstrikes heightened fears of an escalation into a wider conflict.

The United Nations called on Israel and Hezbollah to exercise “maximum restraint” in a statement following Saturday’s attack. “The attack could trigger a major conflagration that would plunge the entire region into an unimaginable catastrophe,” the UN said in a statement.

In a post on X, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Hezbollah will pay a high price for this, one that it has not yet paid.”

Netanyahu was in the United States at the time of the rocket attack to woo presidential candidate Donald Trump and secure a pledge of unconditional military and financial support for Israel if he wins the U.S. election in November. The Israeli president cut short his trip and is expected to return home on Sunday, the New York Times reported.