Israeli cabinet authorizes government to respond to Hezbollah rocket strike

Israel's security cabinet on Sunday authorized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to decide on the "manner and timing" of a response to a rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 teenagers and children, and which Israel and the U.S. blamed on Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Hezbollah denied responsibility for the attack on Majdal Shams on Saturday. Israel has vowed retaliation against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Israeli jets hit targets in southern Lebanon on Sunday.

The potentially dangerous escalation between Israel and Hezbollah has raised concerns from international society. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint on Sunday, while Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN under-secretary-general for peace operations, told China Media Group that "We call on all parties to de-escalate the conflict, which is what is needed. We also support all efforts to de-escalate tensions, and nothing would be more harmful to Israel and Lebanon than an escalation."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington did not want further escalation of the conflict, which has seen daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and Hezbollah along the border.

Britain expressed concern at further escalation while Egypt cautioned against opening a new front of war in Lebanon following the attack, emphasizing the risk of a broader regional conflict.

Israeli forces have been exchanging fire for months with Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon. However, Saturday's strike threatened to tip the standoff into a more dangerous phase.

Meanwhile, Israel continued its strikes and bombing in besieged Gaza. On Sunday, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee urged residents in parts of Bureij and Shuhada areas to evacuate immediately to the humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi, southern Gaza, for their safety.

Tens of thousands of people have recently been experiencing new waves of internal displacement across Gaza due to the issuance of evacuation orders by the Israeli military and intensified hostilities.

Currently, only 14 percent of areas in the Gaza Strip are not under evacuation orders, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said on social media platform X on Sunday.

"Almost everyone in Gaza has been impacted by these orders. Many were forced to flee on average once a month since the Israel-Hamas conflict began nine months ago," Lazzarini added.

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 39,324, the Gaza-based health authorities said on Sunday.

Besides, a joint meeting of senior officials from Israel, Qatar, Egypt and the United States to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza adjourned early Sunday afternoon, several hours after it began in Rome, with no apparent progress reported.

Netanyahu's office said in a statement that Mossad Director David Barnea had returned from the meeting in Rome, and the negotiations were expected to resume "in the coming days."

(With input from agencies)