{"text":[[{"start":11.59,"text":"Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to retaliate against the Lebanon-based Hizbollah militant group after a rocket struck Israeli-occupied territory on Saturday, killing a dozen civilians. "}],[{"start":24.34,"text":"Israel has blamed the Iran-backed paramilitary force for the attack, raising fears of wider escalation after months of growing clashes between the two sides since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict last October. "}],[{"start":38.1,"text":"“I can say that the state of Israel will not let this pass in silence. "},{"start":42.754000000000005,"text":"We will not overlook this,” the Israeli prime minister said in a video message on Saturday from Washington, ahead of his planned return to the country on Sunday. "}],[{"start":53.3,"text":"Other Israeli political and military leaders have also vowed to respond forcefully against what they have described as the deadliest assault on Israeli civilians since Hamas’s October 7 attack on the Jewish state triggered the war in Gaza. "}],[{"start":68.86,"text":"Hizbollah began to fire on northern Israel the day after the October 7 attack, saying it was acting in “solidarity” with the Palestinian militant group. "}],[{"start":79.6,"text":"The rocket on Saturday struck a football pitch in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, in the occupied Golan Heights, where children and teenagers were congregating, according to Israeli health authorities. "},{"start":91.75399999999999,"text":"Twelve people were killed, most under the age of 16, and 20 more injured. "}],[{"start":98.11,"text":"The Druze, an Arabic-speaking religious offshoot of Islam, are a minority group located across Israel, Lebanon and Syria. "},{"start":107.202,"text":"Some Druze residents of the Golan Heights have adopted Israeli citizenship over the years, after the Jewish state seized the territory from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. "}],[{"start":119.84,"text":"Visiting the town on Sunday morning, Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said: “We will ensure Hizbollah, the proxy of Iran, pays a price for this loss. ”"}],[{"start":131.3,"text":"Hardliners in Netanyahu’s coalition government demanded even more, with ultranationalist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posting pictures of the slain civilians to social media platform X and writing: “We will not rest until we take revenge on the despicable terrorists who mercilessly beat and slaughtered our children. ”"}],[{"start":151.78,"text":"Hizbollah on Saturday denied responsibility for the strike amid growing concern across the Middle East that Saturday’s attack could spark all-out war. "}],[{"start":161.77,"text":"The group controls southern Lebanon and has been trading intensifying cross-border fire with Israel for nearly 10 months. "},{"start":169.37400000000002,"text":"Both sides have been careful to keep the clashes relatively contained, but fears have been rife that a provocation or miscalculation by either party could trigger a full-blown conflict. "}],[{"start":180.83,"text":"Hizbollah said it “had absolutely nothing to do with the incident and categorically denies all false allegations in this regard”. "}],[{"start":189.62,"text":"Iran’s foreign ministry on Sunday warned Israel against any “new adventures” in Lebanon and igniting “the fire of war in the region”. "}],[{"start":198.72,"text":"The Israeli military said an Iranian-built Falaq 1 rocket was fired into the Golan Heights from southern Lebanon. "},{"start":206.099,"text":"On Sunday, Israeli air strikes targeted what military officials said were Hizbollah weapons caches and “terrorist infrastructure,” primarily near the southern Lebanese city of Tyre. "}],[{"start":218.94,"text":"Netanyahu is expected to convene his security cabinet upon his return from Washington later on Sunday. "},{"start":225.857,"text":"Israel’s military chief Herzi Halevi said that the Israel Defense Forces was “raising its readiness ahead of the next stage” of fighting in northern Israel, as it simultaneously continued its campaign in Gaza. "}],[{"start":239.04,"text":"The Lebanese government on Saturday condemned “all acts of violence and attacks against all civilians” and called for “an immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts”, without naming Majdal Shams. "},{"start":251.269,"text":"In a statement, it stressed that “targeting civilians is a flagrant violation of international law and contradicts the principles of humanity”. "}],[{"start":260.62,"text":"The senior UN diplomatic and peacekeeping envoys to Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and Aroldo Lázaro, condemned the loss of life in Majdal Shams but urged “maximum restraint” from both Israel and Hizbollah in a joint statement on Sunday. "}],[{"start":277.21,"text":"“The ongoing intensified exchanges of fire . . . could ignite a wider conflagration that would engulf the entire region in a catastrophe beyond belief,” they said. "}],[{"start":286.95,"text":""}]],"url":"https://creatives.ftacademy.cn/album/165157-1722175618.mp3"}