Israel struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Sunday in the immediate aftermath of a rocket strike from Lebanon that killed 12 people at a football field in the Golan Heights, even as Western diplomats sought to curb further fighting that could broaden conflict in the Middle East.
Sunday’s strikes aimed at what the Israeli military said were Hezbollah weapons caches and infrastructure. But the strikes seemed to fall short of an overwhelming response threatened after the Saturday attack that mostly killed teenagers and young children.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew back early from a trip to the United States to meet with his security Cabinet and assess the situation.
In a Sunday morning comment on social media, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant mourned the victims of the Majdal Shams attack, saying, “We will ensure Hezbollah, the proxy of Iran, pays a price for this loss.” Earlier, Netanyahu warned, “Hezbollah will pay a heavy price for this that it has not paid so far.”
In Japan, at a news conference, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said, “We are deeply saddened by the loss of life. Every indication is that indeed … the rocket was from Hezbollah.”
One senior U.S. official said that while the United States believes Hezbollah carried out the attack, it also believes it may have been an accident and has not yet reached a conclusion about any intention behind the attack.
Diplomatic entreaties were underway Sunday to curb a further Israeli response, including from Lebanon’s government that the U.S. urge restraint from Israel, Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told Reuters. The news agency said the Lebanese foreign minister also said the United States had asked the Lebanese government to pass on a message of restraint to Hezbollah, too.
In a statement, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on all parties “to exercise maximum restraint and reiterates once again his consistent call on all concerned to avoid any further escalation.”
The diplomacy, however, came as both Israel and Iran threatened an escalation. The Iranian foreign ministry warned Israel of “unforeseen consequences” of any further Israeli attacks, while Israel’s education minister, Yoav Kisch, called for a strong response “even if it means entering into an all-out war.”
Israel blamed Hezbollah for the attack, although the Iranian-backed militants denied any connection to it.
An Israeli military spokesperson had earlier told reporters that forensics showed the rocket was an Iranian-made Falaq-1. Hezbollah had announced firing a Falaq-1 missile Saturday, saying it had aimed at an Israeli military headquarters.
In response, Israel’s military said it targeted Hezbollah weapons caches and militant infrastructure in Lebanon overnight, including in the areas of Chabriha, Borj El Chmali, Beqaa, Kfarkela, Rab El Thalathine, Khiam and Tayr Harfa.
Lebanon’s state-run news agency reported extensive damage and some casualties from the overnight Israeli strikes that began shortly after midnight and lasted until dawn.
Despite the belligerent rhetoric, Israel is wary of opening a second major war along its Lebanese border while the war in Gaza against Hamas militants rages on in its 10th month with no end in sight and talks on a cease-fire are at a stalemate.
Roughly 100,000 people in Lebanon and 60,000 in Israel have been displaced, with scores of schools and health centers shuttered in both countries.
More than 460 people in Lebanon have been killed, most of them militants. More than 100 were civilians, including 12 children and 21 health workers, according to the United Nations and Lebanon’s health ministry. The fighting has killed 22 Israeli soldiers and 24 civilians, according to the Israeli government.
Thousands of Druze Arabs observed a day of mourning Sunday in the Golan Heights, shutting shops and other workplaces. Thousands went by bus to Majdal Shams to attend the funerals of those killed.
