People gather on a football field to hold a funeral for a child killed by a Lebanese rocket in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on July 28, 2024.
Amar Awad | Reuters
Israel’s security cabinet on Sunday authorized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to decide the “manner and timing” of its response to a rocket attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 teenagers and children, Israel and the United States All blamed this attack on the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah denied responsibility for Saturday’s attack on Majdal Shams, the deadliest attack on Israel or in Israeli-annexed territory since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas sparked the war in Gaza. The conflict has spread across multiple fronts and threatens to evolve into a broader regional conflict.
Israeli warplanes struck targets in southern Lebanon during the day on Sunday as Israel vowed retaliation against Hezbollah.
But Netanyahu is expected to react more strongly after a security cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv.
After the meeting, Netanyahu’s office said the cabinet “authorized the prime minister and defense minister to decide how and when to respond.”
The White House on Sunday also blamed Hezbollah for the attack in Majdal Shams. “This attack was carried out by Lebanese Hezbollah. It was their rocket, fired from an area they control,” it said in a statement.
U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said through her national security adviser that her “support for Israel’s security is unwavering.”
The United States says Washington has been in discussions with its Israeli and Lebanese counterparts since Saturday’s “horrific” attack and is working to find a diplomatic solution.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington did not want a further escalation in the conflict, which has seen daily fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah along the border.
Britain expressed concern about a further escalation, while Egypt said the attack could “turn into a full-scale regional war”.
On the ground, thousands gathered for the funeral in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. annexation.
The Druze faith is related to Islam, Christianity and Judaism, and more than half of the 40,000 people in the Golan Heights are members of the Druze faith. A large crowd of mourners surrounded the coffin as it was carried through the village, many wearing traditional white and red Druze headdresses.
“Majdal Shams has suffered a heavy tragedy and a dark day,” Dolan Abu Saleh, chairman of the Majdal Shams local council, said in comments broadcast on Israeli television.
Hezbollah initially announced it had fired rockets at Israeli military bases in the Golan Heights, but said it had “absolutely no connection” to the attack in Majdal Shams.
On July 27, 2024, Israeli officials responded to an incident where rockets were fired across the Lebanese-Israeli border at a football stadium in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, killing one person.
Amar Awad | Reuters
Israel says rocket made by Iran
However, Israel said the rocket was an Iranian-made missile fired from an area north of the village of Cheba in southern Lebanon, placing the blame squarely on Iran-backed Hezbollah.
It was unclear whether the children and teenagers killed were Israeli citizens.
“The rockets that killed our boys and girls were Iranian rockets, and Hezbollah is the only terrorist organization that possesses them,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.
Two security sources told Reuters Hezbollah was on high alert and had cleared key locations in southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley in case of an Israeli attack.
Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines said arrivals on some flights were delayed from Sunday night to Monday morning, without giving a reason.
Israeli forces have been fighting Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon for months, but both sides appear to be avoiding an escalation that could lead to an all-out war that could drag down other major powers including the United States and Iran.
However, Saturday’s strike could push the impasse into a more dangerous phase. U.N. officials urged both sides to exercise maximum restraint and warned that an escalation could “plunge the entire region into incredible catastrophe.”
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib told Reuters that Lebanon had asked the United States to urge Israel to exercise restraint. Buhabib said that the United States has asked the Lebanese government to convey a message to Hezbollah and asked the Lebanese government to also show restraint.
Fear of an all-out war
Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday warned Israel against any new adventures in Lebanon.
Syria’s foreign ministry said Israel “bears full responsibility for the dangerous escalation in the area” and said its accusations against Hezbollah were false.
The conflict has forced tens of thousands of people in Lebanon and Israel to leave their homes. Israeli air strikes have killed approximately 350 Hezbollah fighters and more than 100 civilians in Lebanon, including medical staff, children and journalists.
Hezbollah, the most powerful network of Iranian-backed organizations in the Middle East, opened a second front against Israel shortly after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.
Druze communities live on both sides of the border between southern Lebanon and northern Israel, as well as in the Golan Heights and Syria. While some serve in the Israeli military and identify with Israel, many feel marginalized in Israel, and some refuse to obtain Israeli citizenship.
