Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday vowed a “strong” response to a deadly attack in the Golan Heights that killed 12 young men, as diplomats rushed to prevent tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
Visiting the site of the deadly rocket attack in the town of Majdal Shams, Netanyahu said: “The State of Israel cannot and will not allow this to go by like that. Our response will come and it will be harsh.”
He faced protests during the visit, which occurred as mourners gathered in the Druze Arab town to bury the last victim, 11-year-old Guevara Ibrahim.
Israel and the United States have blamed the attack on Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, which has exchanged gunfire with Israeli forces almost daily since the war in Gaza began between Hamas militants and Israel in early October.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said diplomatic activities had been stepped up to avert an anticipated Israeli reaction.
“Israel will move in a limited way and Hezbollah will respond in a limited way … these are the assurances we have received,” Bou Habib said in an interview with local broadcaster al-Jadeed.
This is likely to happen, several analysts told AFP, as Israel is concerned about fighting a war on two fronts.
Habib said the United States, France and other countries were trying to prevent tensions from escalating, while Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said “talks are ongoing with international, European and Arab sides to protect Lebanon and address threats.”
On Monday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he was “confident” a full-scale war could be avoided.
Iran’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian, whose country supports Hezbollah and Hamas, warned Israel against attacking Lebanon, which he said would be “a big mistake with grave consequences.”
Pezeshkian spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, the Elysee Palace said, adding that Macron told his counterpart that “every effort must be made to prevent military escalation” and urged Tehran to “stop its support to elements causing instability”.
Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the Majdal Shams rocket attack, although the group has claimed several attacks on Israeli military targets that day.
Israel said Hezbollah fired a Falaq-1 Iranian rocket. Such projectiles are unguided and one analyst described them as inaccurate weapons.
Travel Warning
A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that Hezbollah had evacuated some bases in southern and eastern Lebanon.
Some airlines, including Air France and Lufthansa, have suspended flights to Lebanon. A Syrian-German passenger at Beirut airport told AFP she was trying to find a new flight, “but they are all either full or cancelled.”
Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on social media platform X that his government was “advising British nationals to leave Lebanon and not travel to the country. This is a rapidly changing situation.”
On Monday, Hezbollah said it had fired “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at an Israeli military site after two of its fighters were killed.
The group later claimed additional attacks on military targets in the northern Israeli territory. Official Lebanese media said a Syrian civilian died of his injuries following an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon.
Cross-border violence has so far killed more than 500 people in Lebanon, most of them combatants, and dozens of civilians and Israeli soldiers.
Hezbollah has said its attacks are in support of Hamas, and would stop if a ceasefire is reached in Gaza, where fighting broke out on October 7 when Palestinian militants attacked southern Israel.
After months of efforts, no agreement has been reached on a ceasefire or hostage release, although mediators and Israeli negotiators met in Rome on Sunday to discuss the latest proposal.
“Negotiations on the main issues will continue in the coming days,” an Israeli statement said.
However, Hamas once again accused Netanyahu of obstructing the agreement and said in a statement that he had set new conditions, going back on an earlier draft.
The war, triggered by a Hamas attack on southern Israel, resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.
The operation also captured 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still being held in Gaza, 39 of whom the military says are dead.
At least 39,363 people have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, although the ministry did not give details about the deaths of civilians and militants.
Hundreds of Gazans were fleeing the vicinity of the al-Bureij refugee camp on Monday, witnesses said, after Israeli forces announced they would take “forceful action” against fighters in the area.
The detained soldiers
Since the war began, human rights activists, United Nations agencies and others have accused Israelis of mistreatment of Palestinians in Israeli custody.
On Monday, the Israeli military said nine soldiers had been detained for questioning over suspected abuse of a detainee at a facility known to hold Palestinians arrested in Gaza.
Following the soldiers’ arrests, Israeli citizens protested outside the military base where the nine soldiers were being held, while many others also entered and vandalised the base where the alleged abuses took place in an attempt to show support.
“Take your hands off the reserve soldiers,” Israel’s right-wing National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir wrote on Twitter.
However, Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials, including army chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, condemned the mob’s actions.
Halevi said of the unrest, “We are in the midst of a war and these types of actions endanger the security of the state.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
