International Rocket attack on Golan Heights evokes threat of war
A rocket attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights with twelve dead threatens to bring Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah to the brink of open war. Israel holds Hezbollah responsible for the attack and, according to its military, attacked a number of terrorist targets of the militia in Lebanon during the night. The targets included weapons depots and terrorist infrastructure, the Israeli military announced on Telegram. It also published video footage purporting to show the attacks. The information could not be independently verified.
28.07.2024, 07:30
SDA
Earlier that evening, at least twelve children and young people between the ages of 10 and 20 were killed in a rocket attack in the village of Majd al-Sham in the Golan Heights. An Iranian-made rocket hit a busy soccer field there. Hezbollah announced in a statement that it had nothing to do with the attack.
The incident sparked international fears of an escalation of violence in the region. UN representatives called on both parties to exercise "the utmost restraint". The USA and the EU also condemned the attack.
Netanyahu threatens retaliation
Israeli President Izchak Herzog expressed his horror at the attack on the Golan Heights. "Hezbollah terrorists brutally attacked and murdered children today whose only crime was to play football," 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.
Hezbollah categorically rejected the accusations that it had attacked Majd al-Sham. Israeli 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.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, 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," the German Press Agency was told by militia circles. "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 spokesman for the US National Security Council condemned the missile attack and assured in a statement: "Our support for Israel's security against all Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah, is steadfast and unwavering." The German ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, spoke on X of a "painful evening" and demanded: "These murderous attacks must stop." EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell expressed his shock at the attack. "We call on all sides to show the utmost restraint and to avoid any further escalation," he said on X.
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. The rocket attack on the Golan Heights 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 is acting in solidarity with Hamas, which is also active in Lebanon.
Talks on ceasefire in the Gaza war in Rome
Meanwhile, indirect talks on a ceasefire in the Gaza war and the release of hostages were 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.
