Wave of retaliation rolls

Israel gets serious: Hezbollah targets under fire

Red Cross workers inspect damage after an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon.(Bild: AFP/Rabih Daher)

According to the Israeli army, it attacked a number of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Tuesday night. One fighter of the pro-Iranian militia was killed. A "weapons depot, terrorist infrastructure, military facilities and a rocket launcher" were also hit.

According to activists, Israel also attacked two Syrian air defense bases on Tuesday night. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported two missile attacks on targets in the province of Daraa. The attacks were carried out from the Golan Heights annexed by Israel and there were no casualties.

"Tough response" after bloodbath on soccer pitch
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had threatened a "tough" response after the deadly rocket attack on the Golan Heights on Saturday. Israel and the USA hold Hezbollah responsible for the attack. According to Israeli reports, at least twelve children and young people aged between ten and 16 were killed when the rocket hit a soccer pitch. Hezbollah denies responsibility for the attack.

A crowd mourns ten of the children and young people killed in the Golan.(Bild: AFP/Menahem Kahana)

Syria also back in the spotlight
The Iranian-backed militia has been fighting on the side of President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war in Syria for years. The Observatory stated on Sunday that pro-Iranian groups and Hezbollah-affiliated fighters had evacuated their positions around the capital Damascus and in Syrian-controlled parts of the Golan Heights in anticipation of "possible Israeli airstrikes".

Erdogan threatens to invade, Israel calls for NATO expulsion
At the diplomatic level, Israel's new conflict with Turkey is coming to the fore. Following threats from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz has called for Turkey to be expelled from NATO. "Erdogan has made Turkey a member of the Iranian axis of evil," said Katz on Monday evening. Turkey is host to the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas. Katz called on all NATO members to "exclude Turkey immediately".

Erdogan had previously threatened Israel with military intervention. "Just as we went into Nagorno-Karabakh, just as we went into Libya, we will do the same to them," he said at an event organized by his AKP. In the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Turkey supported Azerbaijan with drones, among other things. In Libya, Turkey is on the side of the internationally recognized government and is helping with military equipment and personnel.