- Netanyahu, defense minister to decide response
- Rocket attack killed 12 Druze children
- Attack may escalate into all-out war
Israel’s security council has given Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister the authority to determine when and how to respond to a deadly rocket attack blamed on the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah by Israel and the United States.
Ministers convened an emergency session following Saturday evening’s strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which murdered 12 Druze children and teens. Hezbollah has denied responsibility.
It was the deadliest cross-border incident in months of gunfire between the two sides.
The strike has raised concerns that what have been relatively confined hostilities thus far may escalate into all-out war.
Western governments are pushing Israel to use caution in its response.
The White House stated that it has been in constant contact with Israeli and Lebanese counterparts since the tragic incident on the sports field in the Druze hamlet of Majdal Shams.
It also stated that it was working on a diplomatic solution along the Blue Line [the unofficial border between Israel and Lebanon] to cease all attacks permanently.
Two persons were killed in an Israeli drone strike outside the Lebanese village of Shaqra on Monday morning, according to Lebanon’s state media. Israel has not responded on the report.
The young victims’ funerals were held on Sunday in Majdal Shams, amidst scenes of intense grief. Thousands of people watched as the caskets, covered in white, were brought through the town.
The attack is the most devastating to the Druze people, who have lived on the Golan Heights for millennia. They are members of an Arab-speaking ethnic and religious group that lives in Lebanon, Syria, the Golan Heights, and northern Israel.
Those in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights have been under Israeli control since Israel seized the land from Syria in the 1967 war, though many have remained loyal to Syria. The rocky plateau is home to approximately 21,000 people, roughly 20% of whom have taken Israeli citizenship.
The attack on Majdal Shams has sparked outrage throughout Israel and among Israel’s Druze community, which numbers approximately 110,000 people.
Following the strike, Mr Netanyahu shortened his visit to the United States and returned to Israel. He met with defense officials before convening the security cabinet on Sunday.
Following the hours-long discussion, the prime minister’s office issued a brief statement stating that “members of the Cabinet authorized the prime minister and the defense minister to decide on the manner and timing of the response against the Hezbollah terrorist organization.”
In a condolence call to Israel’s Druze spiritual leader, Sheikh Muafak Ṭarif, Mr. Netanyahu stated that Hezbollah would “pay a heavy price for this that it has not paid to this point.”
Hezbollah has strenuously denied being behind the attack, blaming it on a botched Israeli interceptor missile.
On Sunday, Israeli military Chief of Staff Lt Gen Herzi Halevi stated that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) knew “exactly where the rocket was launched from.
Gen Halevi classified it as an unguided surface-to-surface Falaq missile carrying a 53kg warhead. “It’s a Hezbollah rocket. And whoever launches such a rocket into a populated place intends to kill civilians, including children, he stated.
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Previously sporadic warfare between Israel and Hezbollah has risen after Hezbollah launched missiles at Israeli positions the day following Hamas‘ lethal strike on Israel on October 7. Hezbollah claims to be acting in favor of the Palestinians.
Israel’s security council has given Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister the authority to determine when and how to respond to a deadly rocket attack blamed on the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah by Israel and the United States.
Ministers held an emergency session following Saturday evening’s strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which murdered 12 Druze children and teens. Hezbollah has denied responsibility.
It was the deadliest cross-border incident in months of gunfire between the two sides.
The strike has raised concerns that what have been relatively confined hostilities may escalate into all-out war.
