On the anticipation of a possible aggravation of conflict following a deadly rocket attack on Israel from Lebanon at the weekend, tension was running high on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border Monday. Last night, PM Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant held a meeting with members of the cabinet where they were given permission to decide what type and when to make a military response.
When he visited the scene where the strike happened on Monday, Netanyahu said about those who had been hit: “These children are our children all of us”. “This cannot be allowed to continue like this,” he said. “Israel is coming with its response which will be severe.” In discussions over what action should be taken in response to the rocket attack that took place in Druse Arab village in Majdal Shams Saturday, Israeli politicians have not minced their words. The 12 children and teenagers who were killed by this rocket turned out to have been shot into Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
Israel has accused Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia group that has launched rockets into it for months now, but Hezbollah has denied carrying out this particular assault alongside them. Israeli analysts claimed that Hezbollah was most likely targeting an army base on Mount Hermon nearby yet not intentionally aiming at the village itself. According to them, however, such inaccurate rockets in areas dotted with civilian communities cause unintended consequences that could lead to all-out War.
They also expect stronger retaliation from Israel for Saturday’s rocket attack on Majdal Shams but caution that Netanyahu is likely so calibrate his government’s reaction as not to escalate it further towards a full-blown war.
There have been further exchanges across the border since Saturday’s strike on Majdal Shams but these have appeared within limits of a tit-for-tat pattern seen for some time now. An unmanned aircraft entered northwestern Israel from Lebanon last night but was successfully intercepted by aerial defense systems belonging to IDF. Two persons died and three others, including a child were injured in a drone strike this morning in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese state news agency reported.
During his phone call with Israeli Prez Isaac Herzog from Tokyo on Monday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken stated that he “reiterated America’s unwavering commitment to protect Israel from Iranian-backed terrorist organisations that include Hezbollah.” At the same time, he stressed that “supporting any escalation of this conflict will be like going against a peaceful solution”.
