Will pay heavy price: Netanyahu warns Hezbollah of severe retaliation for Golan Heights strike

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a stern warning to Hezbollah, stating that the group will "pay a heavy price" for Saturday's rocket strike that killed 11 youngsters in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights region.
"Israel will not let this murderous attack go unanswered, and Hezbollah will pay a heavy price for it, a price it has not paid before," Netanyahu conveyed to a local community leader, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office of Israel.

The Prime Minister's office also announced that Netanyahu has decided to return "as quickly as possible" from the United States, where he had met with President Joe Biden and addressed the US Congress earlier this week.

Military response planned

The Israeli military has confirmed that it is preparing a response against Hezbollah. "This attack shows the true face of Hezbollah – a terrorist organisation that targets and murders children playing soccer on a Saturday evening," Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said in a video message on X (formerly Twitter).

“This attack shows the true face of Hezbollah—a terrorist organization that targets and murders children playing soccer on a Saturday evening.”

Watch the IDF Spox. RAdm. Daniel Hagari give remarks regarding the deadliest attack on Israel since October 7: pic.twitter.com/4VYuLMnUhb

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) July 27, 2024

Deadliest attack since October 7

Hagari also described the incident as the "deadliest attack" on Israeli civilians since October 7, the day last year when Hamas attacked southern Israel, sparking the ongoing war in Gaza.
"While athletes from around the world are competing at the #Olympics2024, Hezbollah is murdering the next generation of Israeli athletes. A group of children enjoying life's simplest pleasures was murdered in cold blood when a Hezbollah rocket hit the soccer field in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights," read another IDF post.

Hezbollah denies involvement

However, the Lebanon-based Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the deadly strike. The militant group's military wing, Islamic Resistance, claimed it had "no connection to this incident."
The rocket attack followed an Israeli strike that killed four Hezbollah fighters in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, prompting retaliation from the group, which has exchanged fire with the IDF on a near-daily basis since the Gaza war erupted.