Hezbollah was on high alert in expectation for an Israeli retaliation after the deadly attack on Majdal Shams on Saturday, killing 12 children, According to a report on Reuters quoting sources. The terrorist organization evacuated central facilities in eastern Lebanon and the south in preparation for the possibility of "Israeli escalation," the sources said.
A senior official for the Iran-backed terror group said Israel would meet its end if it launched a war against Lebanon. Hezbollah denied it was behind the rocket attack.
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Aftermath of the massacre of 12 children in a Hezbollah rocket strike, Hassan Nasrallah
(Photo: MDA, AFP)
Lebanon's foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib told Reuters that Beirut has asked the United States to urge Israel to exercise restraint.
Bou Habib said the U.S. had asked the Lebanese government to pass on a message to Hezbollah to show restraint as well.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he did not want to see an escalation of conflict on Israel's northern border. "I emphasize (Israel's) right to defend its citizens and our determination to make sure that they're able to do that," Blinken said during a news conference in Tokyo. "But we also don't want to see the conflict escalate. We don't want to see it spread."
The Foreign Ministry in France condemned that attack and advised its citizens to avoid travel to Lebanon reiterating earlier warnings including on travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said an Israeli response would be forceful. "Hezbollah will be made to pay for the massacre of children," Gallant said on a visit to Majdal Shams ahead of funeral services for 11 of the children who were murdered in the attack.
The security cabinet will meet later on Sunday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed in Israel having cut his U.S. visit by a few hours. Netanyahu was criticized for initially refusing to leave ahead of the scheduled time, a claim he denied.