MAJDAL SHAMS: As diplomats hurried to calm the escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday pledged a “severe” response to a strike that killed youths in the seized Golan Heights.
When Netanyahu was visiting the scene of the missile attack in Majdal Shams, which claimed the lives of twelve children, he declared, “The state of Israel will not, and cannot, let this pass.” We will respond, and it will not be nice.
Protests met him when he arrived, following a gathering of mourners in the Druze Arab town for the final victim’s burial—11-year-old Guevara Ibrahim.
Hezbollah, which has engaged in almost constant gunfire with Israeli forces since the beginning of the Gaza conflict in early October, has been held accountable for the strike by both Israel and the United States.
When Netanyahu visits the location of the rocket attack, protestors welcome him.
The goal of a flurry of diplomatic action, according to Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, has been to temper the expected Israeli response.
Hezbollah will react in kind in proportion to Israel’s limited escalation. In an interview with the local television Al-Jadeed, Bou Habib stated, “These are the assurances we’ve received.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati stated that “talks are ongoing with international, European, and Arab sides to protect Lebanon and ward off dangers,” adding that the United States, France, and other parties were attempting to stop the escalation.
Spokesman for the White House National Security Council John Kirby expressed his “confidence” on Monday that a wider conflict may be averted.
It is “possible to interrupt the spiral of violence and it must be done now,” according to Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who said he had spoken with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Habib.
However, 53-year-old store owner Muhammad Saad claimed that business was operating normally in the city center. “What more could happen? We’re already at war,” he asked.
Hezbollah has denied being behind the missile attack on Majdal Shams, despite the fact that the group claimed to have hit several Israeli military positions that day. According to Israel, Hezbollah launched an Iranian Falaq-1 rocket. An analyst referred to these projectiles as imprecise weapons since they are unguided.
Gaza crisis
According to Netanyahu’s office, Israel’s security cabinet on Sunday “authorised the prime minister and the defence minister to decide on the manner and timing of the response.”
Hezbollah has reportedly left a few locations in east and south Lebanon, according to a person close to the organization. After two of its militants were killed on Monday, Hezbollah claimed to have fired “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at an Israeli military location.
The two were slain in an airstrike on the southern village of Mais al-Jabal in Lebanon, according to a source close to the group. More than 500 individuals have already died as a result of the cross-border conflict in Lebanon, the majority of them were fighters, and dozens more civilians and Israeli forces have also perished.
Despite months of efforts to reach a ceasefire and prisoner release agreement, mediators and Israeli negotiators convened in Rome on Sunday to deliberate the most recent proposal.
According to an Israeli statement, “the negotiations on the main issues will continue in the coming days.” But Hamas charged Netanyahu once more with impeding talks. The organization stated in a statement that he had made “a retreat” from a previous draft and established additional requirements.
The Israeli military announced that its soldiers were still conducting “precise” operations in the Khan Yunis neighborhood and the Rafah sector of Gaza. In a 24-hour period, Israeli aircraft attacked 35 targets in Gaza, the military said.
The armed wing of Hamas said that its forces were “engaging” an Israeli force in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City, where witnesses had reported bombardment.
“Only 14%,” according to Philippe Lazzarini, director of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, are not under Israeli evacuation orders in Gaza.
