MAJDAL SHAMS, Golan Heights. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised on Monday Strong reprisals against Hezbollah amid furious diplomatic efforts to prevent a spiral towards regional war following a weekend rocket attack that killed 12 children in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
Israel has blamed Hezbollah for Saturday night’s rocket from Lebanon that crashed into a soccer field where children were playing in the Druze-majority city of Majdal Shams. In an unusual move, Hezbollah denied any involvement in the attack.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday, emphasizing the “importance of preventing escalation” and discussing efforts to reach a diplomatic solution to months of conflict.
Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah have exchanged fire almost daily on the border since the war in gaza broke out in October. Both sides seemed determined to avoid an escalation that would pit all their firepower against each other. But exchanges have increased and the latest attack threatened reprisals and counter-retaliations that could escalate into a full-blown war.
Early Monday, Israeli strikes hit a motorcycle in Lebanon near the border, killing two people and wounding three others, Lebanese state media said. The attacks, which reflect the pace of daily cross-border fire, did not appear to be Israeli retaliation for Saturday’s attack.
Thousands of people buried the twelfth victim of the strike on Monday. The body of 11-year-old Guevara Ibrahim was carried through the streets of Majdal Shams in a procession of black-clad mourners.
Netanyahu spoke while visiting the soccer field in Majdal Shams and meeting with leaders of the Druze community.
“These children are our children, they are all of our children,” he said as officials laid a wreath on the field. “The State of Israel will not and cannot ignore this. Our response will come and it will be severe,” she said, adding that the rocket was launched by Hezbollah.
Nearby, about 300 friends, supporters and relatives of the slain children protested against Netanyahu’s visit, shouting that he was exploiting the bloodshed for political gain and calling for an end to the violence. Some showed photographs of the children, saying they did not want more deaths.
After Netanyahu left, some ran onto the soccer field and tore off the wreath. Relatives, crying, held the toys that the children had left in the field.
The Druze of the Golan Heights have long had a tense relationship with Israel since it captured the territory from Syria in the 1967 war and later annexed it. Some Druze have Israeli citizenship and ties to Israeli society have grown over the years. But many still feel sympathy for Syria and have rejected Israeli annexation.
Earlier in the day, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also visited the city and said Hezbollah “will pay a price” for the attack. He did not elaborate, saying only: “We will let the actions speak for themselves.”
Israel’s military says Hezbollah fired an Iranian-made Falaq rocket with a 53-kilogram (117-pound) warhead.
Hezbollah has begun moving precision-guided missiles for use if necessary, an official with a Lebanese group told The Associated Press, without giving further details about where they are moving.
The official said Hezbollah’s position has not changed and that it does not want an all-out war with Israel, but if war breaks out it will fight without limits. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military activities.
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire since October 8, a day after Hamas militants broke into southern Israel. Hezbollah has said it is showing support for the Palestinian group.
More than 500 people, including 90 civilians, have been killed in Lebanon, as have 22 soldiers and 25 civilians on the Israeli side. Tens of thousands of people have evacuated their homes on both sides of the border.
The United States and France have pushed for months for a negotiated agreement between Hezbollah and Israel to calm the border and allow residents to return.
The White House National Security Council said it was speaking with its Israeli and Lebanese counterparts and working on a diplomatic solution to “end all attacks once and for all” in the border area.
Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden who frequently handles sensitive negotiations in Lebanon, has been making a series of calls to try to contain the situation, said a Lebanese diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak. talk to the press about the topic.
An open war between Israel and Hezbollah could bring intense destruction. Hezbollah has far greater firepower than Hamas, with an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles, including precision-guided missiles, according to Israeli estimates.
The last time they went to war, in 2006, Israel inflicted massive damage on Lebanon with a bombing campaign in retaliation for a cross-border attack by Hezbollah. The death and destruction was so great that Hezbollah has been under intense pressure from the Lebanese ever since not to trigger a new war with Israel.
Lebanon’s acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati spoke with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy. “We both agreed that widening the conflict in the region benefits no one,” Lammy said in a post on social media site X.
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Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue and Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.
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