Israel kills two Hezbollah fighters as tensions rise

Netanyahu hits back at Lebanese militant group blamed for rocket strike that killed 12 children in the Golan Heights

- TOM WATLING

Israel killed at least two Hezbollah fighters in a drone strike yesterday amid warnings that an escalation in fighting with the Lebanese militant group could become more serious than the war in GGaza. It was the first cross-border attack since a rocket strike blamed on Hezbollah that killed 12 children in the occupied Golan Heights on Saturday.

Two Israeli drone strikes killed two people and wounded three more. The widely anticipated retaliation comes after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a “harsh” response, though Hezbollah denies responsibility for Saturday’s attack. “The state of Israel will not and cannot let this pass. Our response will come, and it will be harsh,” he said during a visit to the remote town of Majdal Shams, a majority Druze village in a region annexed by Israel from Syria in 1981.

Mr Netanyahu’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, who was with the prime minister for the visit, added that “Hezbollah will pay a price”. He told grieving families: “The actions will speak for themselves.” The pair attended a funeral for the 12th child killed as a result of the strike.

Israeli officials have sought to play down their reaction to the strike, saying that Israel wants to hurt Hezbollah but not drag the Middle East into all-out war. “The estimation is that the response will not lead to an all-out war,” one diplomatic source told Reuters. “That would not be in our interest at this point.”