Israel convened its security cabinet on Sunday to discuss responding 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, 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.
Israeli jets hit targets in southern Lebanon during the day but a stronger response could follow the security meeting in Tel Aviv convened by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after his return from a visit to Washington.
Israel has vowed retaliation against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
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.
The U.S. said Washington has been in discussions with Israeli and Lebanese counterparts since Saturday's attack, which it condemned and described as 'horrific,' and that it was working on a diplomatic solution.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington stood by Israel's right to defend itself, but that it 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 recognised 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 had 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 in the strike were Israeli citizens, but Israeli officials have vowed retaliation.
Item 1 of 5 Majdal Shams, Golan Heights, July 28 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
[1/5]Majdal Shams, Golan Heights, July 28 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad Purchase Licensing Rights
'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 Hezbollah was on high alert and had cleared out 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.
In the southern port city of Tyre, a little over 20 km (12 miles) from the border, beachgoers were still streaming to the coast. 'There's fear that Israel will react, but people are living their life normally,' said Ali Husseini, manager of a beachside business in Tyr.
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 from 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.
Two diplomats focused on Lebanon said all efforts were now needed to avoid an all-out war.
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.
The Israeli military said after Saturday's attack the death toll among civilians killed in Hezbollah attacks had risen to 23 since October, along with at least 17 soldiers.
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.
Iraqi groups and the Houthis of Yemen have both fired at Israel, which earlier this month attacked the Red Sea port of Hodeidah in retaliation for a strike on Tel Aviv that killed one person. Hamas has also carried out rocket attacks on Israel from Lebanon, as has the Lebanese Sunni group, the Jama'a Islamiya.
Druze communities live on both sides of the line between southern Lebanon and northern Israel as well as in the Golan Heights and Syria. While some serve in the Israeli military and identify with Israel, many feel marginalized in Israel and some also reject Israeli citizenship.
Reporting by Avi Ohayon and Ammar Awad in Majdal Shams, James Mackenzie and Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem; Laila Bassam and Maya Gebeily in Beirut; Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by William Maclean and Andrew Cawthorne
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