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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a response from Israel to a rocket attack that left 12 people, including children, dead at a soccer field in the Golan Heights and said that his government will exact a “heavy price” from Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist group.
Mr. Netanyahu’s office on July 27 quoted him as saying that “Israel will not overlook this murderous attack” and “Hezbollah will pay a heavy price.”
Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the rocket attack, which occurred in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, which is about seven miles from the Israel–Lebanon border. Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told news outlets on July 28 that Hezbollah hasn’t targeted any civilians.
The group said that it “categorically denies allegations” made by the Israeli media about the attack in Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights.
“The Islamic Resistance has absolutely nothing to do with the incident and denies all false allegations in this regard,” it said in the statement.
The Israeli prime minister’s statement vowing a response was made after Mr. Netanyahu spoke with Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the leader of the Druze ethno-religious group, and “expressed his deep outrage over the murder of innocent people and children by Hezbollah,” according to his office.
Mr. Netanyahu was returning from a multi-day trip to the United States, where he met with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as well as the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump.
He also wanted to convey his “heartfelt condolences on behalf of the entire people of Israel to the families of those who were murdered and to the entire Druze community,” his office wrote.
Going a step further, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Israeli media outlet YNetNews that the rocket attack will be met with a response, saying Israel is now “approaching the moment of full-scale war with Hezbollah.”
“We will pay a price on both the front and the home front, but by the end of the war, Nasrallah and Hezbollah will be crushed, and Lebanon will suffer severely,” he said on July 28. “We will restore peace and security to the northern communities. I have instructed the Foreign Ministry to prepare for a comprehensive campaign worldwide to gain legitimacy for action in Lebanon.”
While Israeli jets hit targets in southern Lebanon on July 27 and July 28, a stronger response was expected following a meeting of the security cabinet on July 27, officials said.
Israeli, US Officials Say Hezbollah to Blame
Both U.S. and Israeli officials disputed Hezbollah’s denial of the rocket attack.
Israel’s military 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 Hezbollah, which U.S. officials have long said is backed by Iran.
“We know exactly where the rocket was launched from today. … This is a Hezbollah rocket, and whoever launches such a rocket into a built-up area wants to kill civilians, wants to kill children,” Israeli Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi said in a statement distributed through social media.
The White House also blamed Hezbollah for the attack, adding that Washington has been in talks with Lebanese and Israeli officials since the incident.
“It was their rocket, and launched from an area they control,” the White House said in a statement on July 27.
The rocket attack has stoked public fears that the conflict in the Middle East between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group has spread into a wider regional conflict, and comes as top U.S. officials have urged the Israeli government to reach a cease-fire agreement with Hamas.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States doesn’t want a further escalation of the conflict, which has seen daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and Hezbollah along the border.
“We are in conversations with the government of Israel and, again, I emphasize its right to defend its citizens and our determination to make sure that they’re able to do that,” Mr. Blinken told a news conference in Japan.
Meanwhile, the UK foreign ministry expressed concern at further escalation, while Egypt said the attack could spill “into a comprehensive regional war.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
