Israel wants to harm Hezbollah, but not drag the Middle East into a total war, two officials said yesterday. Lebanon is expecting retaliation after a rocket attack killed 12 children and teenagers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Two other Israeli officials said Israel was preparing for the possibility of several days of fighting after Saturday's rocket attack on a sports field in the Druze community blamed on the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has denied any connection to the incident.
Any possible attack on Lebanon will have "serious consequences" for Israel, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, Iranian state media announced yesterday.
All four Israeli officials, including a senior military official and a diplomatic source, spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity and did not provide further information on Israel's plans for retaliation.
"The assessment is that the response will not lead to an all-out war," said a diplomatic source. "That would not be in our best interest right now."
The incident raised concerns that months of cross-border hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah could escalate into a wider, more destructive war.
Two Hezbollah fighters were killed in an Israeli drone attack in southern Lebanon yesterday, security sources said. These are the first victims in Lebanon since Saturday's incident. Three other people, including a baby, were wounded in that attack, a Lebanese civil defense official said. The Israeli army announced that its anti-aircraft defense shot down a drone that crossed from Lebanon to the Western Galilee region yesterday.
The Israeli security cabinet on Sunday authorized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant to decide on the manner and timing of the response to the attack in the Golan city of Majdal Shams.
The Israeli newspaper "Jediot Ahronot" reported statements by unidentified officials that the response would be "limited but significant."
The report said options ranged from a limited attack on infrastructure, including bridges, power plants and ports, to attacks on Hezbollah weapons depots or Hezbollah commanders.
In a statement issued by his cabinet after visiting Majdal Hams, Netanyahu said: “The State of Israel will not and cannot allow this to pass. Our response will come and it will be sharp.”
Fueled by the conflict in Gaza, hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah are at their worst since they went to war in 2006.
Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, said its campaign of rocket and drone attacks on Israel was aimed at supporting the Palestinians and said it would cease fire only when the Israeli offensive on Gaza ends.
The conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border has forced tens of thousands of people on both sides to flee their homes.
Options range from a limited attack on infrastructure, including bridges, power plants and ports, to attacks on Hezbollah weapons depots or the group's commanders.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, in yesterday's telephone conversation with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, emphasized the importance of preventing the escalation of the conflict, the State Department announced.
They discussed efforts to reach a diplomatic solution to allow citizens on both sides of the border to return home. Washington also blamed Hamas for the rocket attack. The White House later reiterated that Israel had every right to respond to Hezbollah after Saturday's attack.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby also said the Golan incident should not affect ongoing negotiations on a Gaza ceasefire and securing the release of hostages held by Hamas there.
Germany has called on all parties to the conflict in the Middle East, especially Iran, to prevent escalation. The French presidency said Macron spoke with Netanyahu on Sunday as Paris seeks to prevent a wider escalation between Israel and Hezbollah.
The UNIFIL peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon said it had intensified contacts with Israel and the Lebanese authorities to reduce tensions. "No one wants to start a wider conflict, but a misjudgment could start it. There is still room for a diplomatic solution," said UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib stressed the need for "self-restraint to avoid a regional war" during talks with the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plashert.
Flights at Beirut International Airport have been canceled or delayed. The Jordanian airline "Royal Jordanian" suspended flights to Beirut on Monday and Tuesday, Jordanian television reported.
Both Israel and Hezbollah appear to be seeking to avoid all-out war since they began trading blows in October.
Hezbollah has denied firing the rocket that killed the young people. The group said on Saturday it had fired a missile at a military target in the Golan, a border region Israel seized from Syria after the 1967 Middle East war and annexed, which is not generally recognized by the international community.
The Israeli strikes killed about 350 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and more than 100 civilians, including medical workers, children and journalists, according to security and medical sources and Reuters.
Israel has said 23 civilians have been killed in Hezbollah attacks since October, along with at least 17 soldiers.
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