Israel attacked Hezbollah targets and threatened further retaliation for a rocket strike that resulted in the death of 12.
Israel & Hezbollah On Brink Of All-Out War
Israel attacked Hezbollah targets and threatened further retaliation for a rocket strike that resulted in the death of 12. But Israel has also signaled openness to a proposed Gaza truce that could also calm the combustible front with Lebanon. Israel and the US said that intelligence revealed that the attack was perpetrated by the Lebanese Hezbollah. US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said that it “was their rocket and launched from an area they control. It should be universally condemned.”
In the worst single-incident of civilian losses for Israel since Hamas stormed into its southern villages and army bases on October 7, a rocket exploded in Golan Heights on Saturday, killing 12. The rocket strike hit a football pitch and killed children who local authorities said were aged 10 to 16. While Israel claims Hezbollah fired a Falaq-1 Iranian rocket at them, the Iran-backed group said it had “no connection” to the incident. The rocket strike has raised fears of a wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to exact a “heavy price” from Hezbollah. He has held several meeting with his security cabinet and military chiefs to decide on the next course of action. The US has condemned the rocket attack and called for restraint from all parties. But Iran issued a warning saying that any new military “adventures” by Israel in Lebanon could lead to “unforeseen consequences”.
Israel says it can’t compromise with enemies sworn to its destruction and blacklisted as terrorists in the West. But domestic pressure for a hostage recovery is growing, and the IDF, which leans on conscripts and reservists, is fatigued. Israel launched its war against Hamas after the October 7 attacks in which 1,200 people in southern Israel were killed and 250 taken hostage to Gaza. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says the death toll in Gaza has exceeded 39,000.
Hezbollah is far stronger than Hamas was before October 7, with more fighters, missiles and drones. A war would probably be devastating for both Lebanon and Israel, officials from both countries have said.
Golan Heights: What’s this disputed land
Golan Heights is a rocky plateau in southwestern Syria, about 60 km away from the capital, Damascus. Rich in water, the Golan Heights overlooks northern Israel’s Galilee region and the Sea of Galilee and dominates the route to Damascus on the Syrian-controlled side. Importantly, the Golan Heights shares a border with Jordan and Lebanon. Also known as Jawlan in Arabic, Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the closing stages of the 1967 Six-Day War. Most of the Syrian Arab inhabitants fled the area during the conflict.
Syria tried to regain the Heights in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war but was unsuccessful in its efforts. In the following year, a ceasefire agreement was signed between Israel and Syria, leaving most of the area in Israeli hands. In 1981, Israel annexed the area and passed the Golan Heights Law, which extended Israel’s “laws, jurisdiction and administration” to the area. A United Nations Security Council resolution has declared the occupation of the Golan Heights null and void. Even Syria continues to demand it be returned.
However, in 2019 former US President Donald Trump said Washington would recognise Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights — a move that overturned years of policy and worsened tensions with Syria.
Who lives in the Golan Heights?
As of date, around 40,000 people inhabit the Golan Heights, more than half of them being Druze Arabs. But who exactly is the Druze? The Druze Arabs are a unique religious and ethnic group. Their tradition dates back to the 11th Century and incorporates elements of Islam, Hinduism and even classical Greek philosophy. They don’t allow for conversion either to or from the religion – and no intermarriage.
Who lives in the Golan Heights?
Druze have remained loyal to the regimes of Bashar al-Assad and his father Hafez al-Assad over the decades. When Israel annexing the Golan, the Druze were given the option of citizenship, but most rejected it and still identify themselves as Syrian. Presently, over 20,000 Druze live in the Golan Heights and share the land with around 25,000 Jewish Israelis, spread across more than 30 settlements. In 2023, the UN Human Rights Council had sounded alarms over Israel’s plan to double their settler population there by 2027.
Why is the Golan important to Israel?
The answer to this is security. The high altitude of the Golan Heights provides Israel with observation points deep into Syria — a country with which Israel has strained ties. Israel also states that maintaining the Golan helps in having a buffer zone between the Israeli towns and Damascus.
