Closing summary
Thousands of mourners attended funeral ceremonies on Sunday for the 12 children and teenagers – aged between 10 and 16 – who were killed by a rocket strike that hit a football pitch in Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, yesterday.
Israel has vowed swift retaliation against Hezbollah, which it blames for the attack. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, also believes Hezbollah fired the rocket. The Iran-backed Lebanese militant group deny any involvement. Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said Hezbollah will pay a “price for this loss”. The country’s education minister, Yoav Kisch, said he expects the cabinet to respond “with full force” to the attack “even if it means entering into an all-out war” with Hezbollah. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who has flown back early from his diplomatic trip to the US, vowed that Hezbollah would “pay a heavy price”. He is convening a security cabinet meeting this afternoon, the outcome of which is expected to be decisive.
The IDF chief of staff, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, said Israel was “greatly increasing our readiness for the next stage of fighting in the north, as we are simultaneously fighting in Gaza”.
The United Nations urged “maximum restraint”, in a joint statement from their special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) chief Aroldo Laza. Other countries, such as France and the UK, have also called for a deescalation of conflict.
Two security sources told Reuters that Hezbollah is on high alert, with the Lebanese militant group having preemptively cleared out some key sites in both Lebanon’s south and the eastern Bekaa Valley in the event of a possible attack by Israel.
The Lebanese government asked the US to urge restraint from Israel, Lebanon’s foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, said. He told Reuters earlier that a significant attack by Israel would lead to a “regional war”.
At least 39,324 Palestinian people have been killed and 90,830 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said.
On Saturday, in the hours prior to the strike on Majdal Shams, an estimated 40 rockets were directed at Israel from Lebanese territory. Israel has responded with airstrikes targeting towns deep in Lebanese territory.
We are closing this blog now, but you can stay up to date on the Guardian’s Middle East coverage here.
Death toll in Gaza reaches 39,324, says health ministry
At least 39,324 Palestinian people have been killed and 90,830 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry has said.
Gaza’s health ministry said 66 Palestinians have been killed and 241 injured over the past 24 hours due to Israel’s war in Gaza.
The ministry has said thousands of other dead people are most likely lost in the rubble of the enclave.
