MAJDAL SHAMS: Following a missile attack on the Golan Heights, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant pledged to “hit the enemy hard” on Sunday, igniting fears that the Gaza conflict may extend. However, both Lebanon and the European Union demanded an independent investigation into what transpired.
Iran cautioned Israel that any further military “adventures” in Lebanon might have “unforeseen consequences,” while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounced the attack and called for calm on behalf of the Western powers, which included the US, Britain, France, and Germany.
The Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, which has been backed by Iran and has previously targeted Israeli military positions in response to illegal territory occupation and unrelenting strikes on Palestinians, denied any connection to the most recent incident, calling it “the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians” since October 2023.
The rocket struck Majdal Shams, home to Druze people who speak Arabic. Since Israel took over the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967, a large number of the Druze town’s citizens have refused to recognize Israel as their country.
EU, Lebanon call for impartial investigation into Golan attack
After arriving early from the US, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, “Hezbollah will pay a heavy price” for the attack—”a price it has not paid before.” He made this statement during a security cabinet meeting. Netanyahu had already assured the US Congress that Israel would safeguard its northern border by doing “whatever it must.”
Israel said it struck Hezbollah sites “both deep inside Lebanese territory and in southern Lebanon,” accusing Hezbollah of “crossing all red lines.”
Syria claimed that Israel was seeking “pretexts to enlarge its aggression” and condemned Israel for making “false accusations” against Hezbollah. Additionally, Israel was forewarned by Nasser Kanani, the spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, that “any ignorant action of the Zionist regime can lead to the broadening of the scope of instability, insecurity, and war in the region” and that Israel would then be accountable for “the unforeseen consequences and reactions to such stupid behavior”.
In a statement on X, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib demanded the “full and comprehensive application” of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which put an end to Israel and Hezbollah’s 2006 war, as well as a “international investigation or a meeting of the tripartite committee held through UNIFIL to know the truth” about who was behind the attack.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon’s peacekeepers and military officers from Israel and Lebanon are all mentioned in the tripartite committee.
Additionally, Josep Borrell, the EU’s head of foreign affairs, called for “an independent international investigation into this unacceptable incident” and denounced the “bloodbath.”
With a warning that escalating gunfire “may ignite a wider conflagration that would engulf the entire region in a catastrophe beyond belief,” the UN called for “maximum restraint.”
Both Germany’s foreign ministry and Britain denounced the incident and encouraged “cool heads.”
