Israel vows ‘severe’ response to deadly strikes
US, France and others seek to contain escalation, while Lebanese PM says talks ongoing to protect Beirut
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday vowed a “severe” response to a deadly strike that killed 12 youths in the annexed Golan Heights, as diplomats raced to contain escalation between Israel and Hezbollah.
On a visit to the site of the deadly rocket strike in the town of Majdal Shams, Netanyahu said: “The state of Israel will not, and cannot, let this pass. Our response will come and it will be severe.”
He was greeted by protests during the visit, which came after mourners gathered in the Druze Arab town to bury the last victim, 11-year-old Guevara Ibrahim.
Israel and the United States have blamed the strike on Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, which has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces since the war in Gaza between Hamas militants and Israel began in early October.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said a flurry of diplomatic activity has sought to contain the anticipated Israeli response.
“Israel will escalate in a limited way and Hezbollah will respond in a limited way. These are the assurances we’ve received,” Bou Habib said in an interview with local broadcaster Al-Jadeed.
The United States, France and others were trying to contain the escalation, Habib added, while Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said “talks are ongoing with international, European and Arab sides to protect Lebanon and ward off dangers”.
On Monday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he was “confident” a broader war could be avoided.
New Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, whose country supports Hezbollah and Hamas, warned Israel against attacking Lebanon, which he said would be “a great mistake with heavy consequences”.
Pezeshkian spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, with the Elysee Palace saying Macron told his counterpart “all must be done to avoid a military escalation” and urged Tehran to “cease its support for destabilising actors”.
Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the Majdal Shams rocket attack, though the group claimed multiple strikes on Israeli military positions that day.
Israel said Hezbollah fired a Falaq-1 Iranian rocket. This type of projectile is unguided and an analyst called them inaccurate weapons.
Hezbollah has evacuated some positions in south and east Lebanon, said a source close to the group.
Some airlines, including Air France and Lufthansa, have suspended flights to and from Lebanon.
Meanwhile,UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on social media platform X that his government was “advising British nationals to leave Lebanon and not to travel to the country. This is a fast-moving situation.”
On Monday, Hezbollah said it had launched “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at an Israeli military site following the killing of two of its fighters.
The group later claimed additional strikes against military positions in Israel’s north. Official Lebanese media said a Syrian national died from wounds after an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon.
The cross-border violence has already killed more than 500 people in Lebanon, most of them fighters, and dozens of civilians and soldiers on the Israeli side.
Hezbollah has said its attacks are in support of Hamas, and that they would stop if a ceasefire was reached in Gaza, where war broke out on Oct 7.
Months of effort have failed to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal, although mediators and Israeli negotiators met on Sunday in Rome to discuss the latest proposal.