Israel's security cabinet on Sunday authorized
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to decide on the "manner
and timing" of a response to a rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied
Golan Heights that killed 12 teenagers and children, and which Israel
and the United States blamed on Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah denied responsibility for the attack on Majdal Shams on
Saturday, the deadliest in Israel or Israeli-annexed territory since
Palestinian militant group Hamas' Oct. 7 assault sparked the war in
Gaza. That conflict has spread to several fronts and risks spilling into
a wider regional conflict.
Israel has vowed retaliation against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and
Israeli jets hit targets in southern Lebanon during the day on Sunday.
But there were expectations a stronger response could follow the security cabinet meeting convened by Netanyahu in Tel Aviv.
After the meeting ended, Netanyahu's office said the cabinet
"authorized the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister to decide on the
manner and timing of the response."
The White House on Sunday also blamed Hezbollah for the Majdal Shams
strike. "This attack was conducted by Lebanese Hezbollah. It was their
rocket, and launched from an area they control," it said in a statement.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential
candidate, said through her national security adviser that her "support
for Israel’s security is ironclad,"
The U.S. said Washington has been in discussions with Israeli and
Lebanese counterparts since Saturday's "horrific" attack and that it was
working on a diplomatic solution.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington did not want
further escalation of the conflict, which has seen daily exchanges of
fire between the Israeli military and Hezbollah along the border.
Britain expressed concern at further escalation while Egypt said the attack could spill "into a comprehensive regional war."
On the ground, thousands of people gathered for funerals in the Druze
village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, territory captured from
Syria by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not
recognized by most countries.
Members of the Druze faith, which is related to Islam, Christianity
and Judaism, make up more than half the 40,000-strong population of the
Golan Heights. Large crowds of mourners, many in traditional high white
and red Druze headwear, surrounded the caskets as they were carried
through the village.
"A heavy tragedy, a dark day has come to Majdal Shams," said Dolan
Abu Saleh, head of the Majdal Shams local council, in comments broadcast
on Israeli television.
Hezbollah initially announced it fired rockets at Israeli military
sites in the Golan Heights, but said it had "absolutely nothing" to do
with the attack on Majdal Shams.
ISRAEL SAYS ROCKET IRANIAN-MADE
However, Israel said the rocket was an Iranian-made missile fired
from an area north of the village of Chebaa in southern Lebanon, placing
the blame squarely on Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
It was not immediately clear if the children and teenagers killed were Israeli citizens.
"The rocket that murdered our boys and girls was an Iranian rocket
and Hezbollah is the only terror organization which has those in its
arsenal," Israel's foreign ministry said.
Two security sources told Reuters that Hezbollah was on high alert
and had cleared some key sites in both Lebanon's south and the eastern
Bekaa Valley in case of an Israeli attack.
Lebanon's Middle East Airlines said it was delaying the arrival of
some flights from Sunday night to Monday morning, without stating why.
Israeli forces have been exchanging fire for months with Hezbollah
fighters in southern Lebanon, but both sides have appeared to be
avoiding an escalation that could lead to all-out war, potentially
dragging in other powers including the United States and Iran.
However, Saturday's strike threatened to tip the standoff into a more
dangerous phase. United Nations officials urged maximum restraint from
both sides, warning that escalation could "engulf the entire region in a
catastrophe beyond belief."
Lebanon has asked the U.S to urge restraint by Israel, Lebanon's
foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, told Reuters. Bou Habib said the
U.S. had asked Lebanon's government to pass on a message to Hezbollah to
show restraint as well.
ALL-OUT WAR FEARED
Iran's foreign ministry warned Israel on Sunday against what it called any new adventure in Lebanon.
Syria's foreign ministry said it held Israel "fully responsible for
this dangerous escalation in the region" and said its accusations
against Hezbollah were false.
The conflict has forced tens of thousands of people in both Lebanon
and Israel to leave their homes. Israeli strikes have killed some 350
Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and more than 100 civilians, including
medics, children and journalists.
Hezbollah is the most powerful of a network of Iran-backed groups
across the Middle East and opened a second front against Israel shortly
after Hamas' Oct. 7 assault on Israel.
