International Rocket attack on Golan Heights evokes threat of war
A deadly rocket attack attributed to Hezbollah threatens to bring Israel and the Lebanese Shia militia to the brink of open warfare. UN representatives urged both parties to exercise "the greatest possible restraint".
At least 12 people, all of them children and young people between the ages of 10 and 20, were killed in the village of Madschd al-Schams on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, according to Israeli military sources. A rocket from Hezbollah's arsenal hit a busy soccer field there on Saturday evening.
Israeli President Izchak Herzog was horrified. "Hezbollah terrorists brutally attacked and murdered children today whose only crime was to play soccer," he wrote on X. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately threatened to retaliate. "Hezbollah will pay a high price for this, a price it has not yet paid," Netanyahu said, according to his office.
The head of government wanted to convene the security cabinet on Sunday after his return from the USA, it was further reported. Netanyahu had given a speech to Congress in the USA and met US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President and presidential candidate Donald Trump. He brought forward his departure from Washington by several hours.
In a statement, Hezbollah said that it had nothing to do with the incident. It categorically rejected the accusations of having attacked Majd al-Sham. Army spokesman Daniel Hagari described this as a "lie". The projectile was an Iranian missile of the Farak-1 type, which is only used by Hezbollah. Forensic investigations had revealed this. The Shia militia is supported by Iran and shares its anti-Israeli stance. "Hezbollah is behind this catastrophe and must bear the consequences," said Hagari.
Expert considers misfire possible
Israeli military expert Sarit Zehavi pointed out that the Shiite militia had previously claimed responsibility for attacks on an Israeli military base on Mount Hermon. "It is very easy to miss the base on Mount Hermon with inaccurate missiles, such as the Farak," she said. Majd al-Sham is located directly below it.
However, the Shia militia says it is preparing for a potentially serious attack by Israel. "We have been on standby for months and are on the lookout for any attack by the enemy," Hezbollah sources told the German Press Agency. "This is nothing new, we are in constant readiness." According to the circles, a possibly "hard attack" is now expected.
The rocket attack is fueling fears in the US government that an open war could break out between Israel and Hezbollah, wrote the well-connected Israeli journalist Barak Ravid in the US portal "Axios". "What happened today could be the trigger for what we have been fearing and trying to prevent for ten months," Ravid quoted a US government official as saying. The USA is Israel's most important ally. American and French diplomats have been trying for months to ease the conflict between Israel and the Shia militia.
"We urge the parties to exercise maximum restraint and end the ongoing heavy firefights," said a joint statement by the head of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Aroldo Lázaro, and the special coordinator for the country, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert. The fighting "could ignite a major conflagration that would plunge the entire region into an unimaginable catastrophe", warned the two UN representatives.
USA stands "firmly" and "unwaveringly" by Israel
A White House spokesman condemned the rocket attack to Ravid as "terrible". "Our support for Israel's security in the face of all Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Lebanon's Hezbollah, is ironclad and unwavering," Ravid quoted the spokesman as saying on X. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed his shock at the attack. "We call on all sides to exercise the utmost restraint and to avoid any further escalation," he said on X. The German ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, spoke on X of a "painful evening" and demanded: "These murderous attacks must stop."
The rocket attack hit a place where mainly Arabic-speaking Druze live. The religious community emerged from Shiite Islam in the 11th century and today mainly lives in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan. In the respective countries, their members value internal cohesion and loyalty to the respective state. In Israel, many Druze serve voluntarily in the army.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war last October, Hezbollah and Israel's army have been fighting almost daily. At least 100 civilians have died on the Lebanese side and around 360 Hezbollah fighters have been killed. There were also casualties on the Israeli side. On both sides of the border, tens of thousands were displaced by the fighting.
The rocket attack followed an Israeli attack in the village of Kfar Kila near the Lebanese-Israeli border, in which, according to Hezbollah, four of its members were killed. The Iranian-backed militia says it is acting in solidarity with Hamas, which is also active in Lebanon.
Silent march instead of slogans
The tragedy in Majd al-Sham overshadowed the weekly demonstrations demanding that the Netanyahu government reach an agreement to release the hostages held by Hamas. Around 1,000 people demonstrated again in Jerusalem on Saturday evening. This time they refrained from shouting slogans and marched silently to Netanyahu's residence, reported the Times of Israel.
Indirect talks on a ceasefire in the Gaza war and the release of hostages are to continue in Rome on Sunday. Hopes for progress in the talks, in which the USA, Qatar and Egypt are mediating, are limited. Netanyahu recently formulated additional conditions for a deal, which are likely to be unacceptable to Hamas.
The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre of 1,200 people killed by Hamas Islamists together with other groups from the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on October 7 last year. According to Palestinian reports, at least 30 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school building in Deir al-Balah on Saturday. The Israeli military claimed to have attacked a Hamas command center there.
