Israel Vows Retaliation as Fears Grow of Wider War in Middle East

Iran warned Israel that any new military "adventures" in Lebanon could lead to "unforeseen consequences".

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Saturday's rocket fire and called on all parties to "exercise maximum restraint".

Israel's army called it "the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians" since the Oct. 7 attack that began the current fighting in Gaza and triggered regular exchanges of fire across the Lebanese border.

Israel blamed Lebanon's Hezbollah movement for firing a Falaq-1 Iranian rocket but the Iran-backed group — which has regularly targeted Israeli military positions — said it had "no connection" to the incident.

It said, however, that it had fired one such rocket on Saturday towards an Israeli military target in the Golan.

The rocket fire in Majdal Shams, whose population are Arabic-speaking Druze, prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to return early from the United States.

Upon arrival he went immediately into a security cabinet meeting, his office said.

"Hezbollah will pay a heavy price" for the attack, "a price it has not paid before", he said.

After the meeting, his office said: "The members of the cabinet authorised the prime minister and the defense minister to decide on the manner and timing of the response against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation." It offered no further details.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant earlier Sunday visited the scene of the attack and vowed Israel would "hit the enemy hard".

Israel's foreign ministry said Hezbollah had "crossed all red lines".

  Tearful farewell 

In expectation of Israel's retaliation, Hezbollah evacuated several positions close to the border and in eastern Lebanon, a source close to the group said.

Israel's military said later Sunday it had hit Hezbollah targets "both deep inside Lebanese territory and in southern Lebanon".

An Israeli drone fired two missiles at Taraiyya village in eastern Lebanon, destroying a hangar and a home without causing casualties, a Lebanese security source told AFP.

Hezbollah has said its cross-border fire is an act of support for Hamas, who have been fighting Israel's military in Gaza since Oct. 7, when they attacked southern Israel.

That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli figures.

Militants also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.

Israel's war in Gaza has killed at least 39,324 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, mostly women and children.

In Gaza's southern city of Khan Yunis on Sunday, the civil defense agency reported five killed in an Israeli strike that hit several tents housing displaced Palestinians in a humanitarian zone.