MIDEAST-ISRAEL/LEBANON-UPDATE Israeli major killed in Hezbollah strike buried, Netanyahu blames Iran for attack

Record ID: 398945

  • Title: MIDEAST-ISRAEL/LEBANON-UPDATE Israeli major killed in Hezbollah strike buried, Netanyahu blames Iran for attack
  • Date: 29th January 2015
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (JANUARY 29, 2015) (REUTERS) SOLDIERS CARRYING COFFIN OF 25-YEAR-OLD CAPTAIN, YOCHAI KALANGEL, KILLED IN WEDNESDAY'S HEZBOLLAH STRIKE COFFIN WRAPPED IN ISRAELI FLAG, BEING CARRIED DURING FUNERAL WOMAN SOBBING KALANGEL'S FATHER SOBBING VARIOUS OF COFFIN BEING LOWERED INTO THE GROUND THOUSANDS ATTENDING FUNERAL ELDERLY WOMAN SOBBING MILITARY SIGN WITH KALANGEL'S NA
  • Embargoed: 13th February 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA24JLWP3XJ4GJ3NZU87R1HCYY1
  • Story Text: Thousands of mourners attended the funeral in Jerusalem on Thursday (January 29) for an Israeli infantry major killed in the latest exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah.
    Twenty-five-year-old Captain Yochai Kalangel, who was promoted to the rank of Major after he died, was buried at a military service at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl cemetery.
    Kalangel and 20-year-old Staff Sergeant Dor Chaim Nini, were killed on Wednesday (January 28) on Israel's northern frontier, when Hezbollah fired five missiles at a convoy of Israeli military vehicles. The attack appeared to be in retaliation for a January 18 Israeli air strike in southern Syria that killed several Hezbollah members and an Iranian general.
    In the worst exchange of fire in years, a Spanish peacekeeper was also killed in southern Lebanon as Israel responded with air strikes and artillery fire.
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces a parliamentary election in March 2015, blamed Iran for the attack.
    "Iran is the one responsible for yesterday's attack against us from Lebanon. This is the same Iran that is now trying to achieve an agreement, via the major powers, that would leave it with the ability to develop nuclear weapons, and we strongly oppose this agreement. We will continue to defend ourselves against all threats, near and far alike."
    Netanyahu said at a memorial to mark the one year death anniversary of former prime minister, Ariel Sharon.
    Iran is a major funder of Hezbollah, a Shi'ite group headed by Hassan Nasrallah.
    Meanwhile, the Israel-Lebanon border appeared quiet on Thursday.
    Israel said it had received a message from UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, that Hezbollah was not interested in further escalation.
    Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which fought Israel to a standstill in 2006, is busy backing Damascus in Syria's civil war. It may also be mindful of the ruin Israel has threatened to wreak on Lebanon should they again enter a full-on conflict.
    Israel is gearing up for a March 17 general election and gauging the costs of its offensive on the Gaza Strip last year against Palestinian guerrillas, whose arsenal is dwarfed by Hezbollah's powerful long-range rockets.
    But Israeli troops remained on high alert, Israeli defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said, and temporary roadblocks were set up along northern routes.
    In the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a ski resort was reopened, after having been evacuated on Wednesday.
    "I am afraid a little but but for the children, they wanted to see the snow. This is the first time for him to see the snow. We continue living. This is life," said Israeli visitor, Karen.
    Israel captured the western part of the Golan Heights from Syria in a 1967 war and annexed it in a move that is not recognised internationally.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register