Israeli firefighters work to put out a fire caused by a projectile that was fired from Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, near Kiryat Shmona, in northern Israel on July 29, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Israel wants to hurt Hezbollah but not drag West Asia into all-out war, two Israeli officials said on Monday, as Lebanon braced for retaliation after a rocket strike that killed 12 children and teens in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Two other Israeli officials said Israel was preparing for the possibility of a few days of fighting following Saturday’s rocket strike at a sports field in a Druze village.

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All four officials, who included a senior defence official and a diplomatic source, spoke on condition of anonymity and gave no further information about Israel’s plans for retaliation.

“The estimation is that the response will not lead to an all-out war,” the diplomatic source said. “That would not be in our interest at this point.”

Israel and the United States have blamed Lebanon’s Hezbollah for the strike. Hezbollah has denied any role.

The incident has added to concerns that months of cross-border hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group could spiral into a broader, more destructive war.

On Sunday, Israel’s security Cabinet authorised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant to decide on the manner and timing of a response to the strike.

Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted unidentified officials as saying 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 hitting Hezbollah weapons depots or targeting Hezbollah commanders.

Prompted by the Gaza war, the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have been their worst since they went to war in 2006.

Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian group Hamas, has said its campaign of rocket and drone attacks on Israel has aimed to support the Palestinians, and indicated it will only cease fire when Israel’s offensive on Gaza stops.

The conflict at the Israel-Lebanon border has forced tens of thousands of people to leave their homes on both sides.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a phone call with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday, emphasised the importance of preventing escalation of the conflict, the U.S. State Department said.

They discussed efforts to reach a diplomatic solution to allow citizens on both sides of the border to return home, and ongoing efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held there.

Germany called on all parties to the West Asia conflict, in particular Iran, to prevent an escalation.

TWO HEZBOLLAH FIGHTERS KILLED

An Israeli drone strike killed two Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon on Monday, security sources said. They were the first fatalities in Lebanon since Saturday’s incident. Three other people including an infant were wounded in that strike, an official in the Lebanese civil defence said.

The Israeli military said its air defences downed a drone which crossed from Lebanon into the Western Galilee area on Monday.

Flights at Beirut’s international airport have been cancelled or delayed as airlines responded to the possibility of an Israeli response.

Both Israel and Hezbollah have appeared at pains to avoid a full-scale war since they began trading blows in October.

Hezbollah has denied firing the rocket that killed the youngsters. It said on Saturday it had fired a missile against a military target on the Golan Heights, a border area Israel seized from Syria after the 1967 Middle East war and has since annexed in a move not generally recognised internationally.

Israeli strikes have killed some 350 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and more than 100 civilians, including medics, children and journalists, according to security and medical sources and a Reuters tally of death notifications issued by Hezbollah.

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.

Beirut, Lebanon:

The US and British embassies in Beirut on Thursday advised citizens to leave Lebanon while flights “remain available” as border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah intensify over Israel’s war with Hamas.

Both countries had already warned citizens against travel to Lebanon.

“We recommend that US citizens in Lebanon make appropriate arrangements to leave the country; commercial options currently remain available,” a US embassy statement said.

A similar warning was issued by the British embassy which said: “If you are currently in Lebanon, we encourage you to leave now while commercial options remain available.”

“British nationals should exercise caution and avoid areas where demonstrations may be held,” it added.

Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions have been trading daily cross-border fire with Israel after Hamas launched a massive October 7 assault on southern Israel, killing more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians.

Relentless Israeli strikes on Gaza have since killed at least 3,500 people, mostly civilians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run territory.

On Tuesday, the US State Department raised its travel advisory for Lebanon from level three to four — the highest level available.

It authorised non-essential embassy personnel and their families to leave their embassy citing the unpredictable security situation due to the Israel-Hamas war.

Many Arab and Western countries have already encouraged their nationals to avoid travel to Lebanon or leave, with Saudi Arabia on Wednesday urging its citizens to leave Lebanon “immediately” and Kuwait also warning against travelling there.

France, Germany, Canada and Australia have also warned against travel to Lebanon, while Spain has advised against non-essential travel.

Cross-border tensions have killed at least 21 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally, mostly combatants but also three civilians including a Reuters journalist.

At least three people have been killed on the Israeli side.

Since Tuesday, like in many Arab capitals, demonstrators have taken to the streets of Beirut and its suburbs, including near the American and French embassies, to protest against a deadly strike on a Gaza hospital.

 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)