Jerusalem/Tehran, Jul 28 (EFE).- Israel on Sunday warned of a “full scale war” against Lebanon, accusing Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of crossing “all red lines” after a cross-border attack killed 12 children in northern Israel.
“Hezbollah – Iran’s frontline outpost in Lebanon – carried out a massacre in Majdal Shams yesterday: the murder of innocent children and teenagers while they were playing football,” the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Hezbollah, the long arm of Iran, directed its fire at a civilian population. Saturday’s massacre constitutes the crossing of all red lines by Hezbollah.”
The foreign claimed that the projectile, which also injured 15 children, was “an Iranian rocket,” and that Hezbollah is the only organization with it in its arsenal.
Israel warned that it will exercise its “right and duty to act in self-defense” and will respond to “the massacre.”
“The only way that the world can prevent a full scale war, which would be devastating also to Lebanon, is by forcing Hezbollah to implement Security Council Resolution 1701 (which calls for the demilitarization of the Israel-Lebanon border area). Now is the very last minute to do so diplomatically,” the foreign ministry said.
Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, who traveled to the affected region in the occupied Golan Heights to attend the victims’ funerals, warned that Hezbollah will “pay the price” for the attack.
In response, Iran warned Israel against “any new adventurism” in Lebanon under “the pretext” of Saturday’s attack, which it called “a forged scenario” to distract the world’s attention from “the crimes” Israel has allegedly committed in Palestine.
“Any stupid measure by the Zionist regime can lead to the expansion of the scope of instability, insecurity and the flames of war in the region,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a statement Sunday.
“The (Israeli) regime will be definitively and basically responsible for the unpredicted repercussions and reactions to the stupid behavior.”
Kanaani called on the international community, especially the United Nations Security Council, to support “the stability and security in Lebanon and the region” in the face of Israel’s “adventurism.”
The spokesperson also urged the United States to “act in favor of global peace and security and bar” Israel from starting “a new fire whose flames will burn the Zionists.”
The cross-border attacks, ongoing almost daily since the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza began on Oct. 7, have significantly intensified in recent months, raising fears of open war between Israel and Lebanon. EFE
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