“It is the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians since the terrorist attack” by the Palestinian group Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, which killed 1,200 and sparked the new war in the Gaza Strip, said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. .
The massacre took place in a stadium in the city of Majdal Shams, in an area occupied under UN Security Council resolutions, home to around 25,000 Druze, members of an ethnic group with a distinct religion. The majority of the Druze of the Golan Heights declare themselves Syrian and refuse to receive Israeli citizenship. They coexist with approximately 50,000 Jewish settlers.
This time, the Israeli military spokesman pointed to Hezbollah, the pro-Iranian Lebanese Shiite movement that has been exchanging fire daily with Israeli forces on the Lebanese-Israeli border since October 7, in support of the “Palestinian Resistance.”
An Iranian-made Falaq-1 rocket, which carries 50 kilograms of explosives and is typically used by Hezbollah, spread death. Hezbollah has categorically denied responsibility. It was an Israeli rocket that caused the bloodbath, he told UN representatives in the region, who appealed for “restraint” to all sides.
Before dawn on Sunday, Israeli jets had already bombed “Hezbollah terrorist positions” in Lebanon. The Lebanese government, which includes the political wing of Hezbollah, condemned “all attacks against civilians”, repeating the call “for an end to hostilities on all fronts”.
Warnings
The Iranian Foreign Ministry warns of “unforeseen consequences if the Zionist regime, foolishly, provokes new adventures in the region.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who cut short a visit to the US to return to Israel, said Hezbollah would “pay dearly” for the attack.
“Hezbollah has crossed every red line… We are getting closer to the outbreak of a war against Hezbollah and Lebanon,” added Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz. “The world cannot continue to remain silent in the face of (Hezbollah leader) Nasrallah’s terrorist attacks, which are carried out at the behest of the ‘Evil Empire’ based in Iran,” said Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
In his speech to Congress on Wednesday, Netanyahu denounced for the umpteenth time that Iran and its pariahs in the Middle East – Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis – are responsible for all the ills, expressing the certainty that Israel and the US together will win in war of civilization against barbarism.
Three months ago, fears of a wider conflict in the region peaked when Iran launched an attack with 300 missiles and drones against Israel in retaliation for the death of senior officers of the Revolutionary Guards, an elite body of the Iranian Armed Forces, in a bombing at the consulate. of Iran in Damascus, for which he blamed Israel. Most of the rockets and drones were intercepted by Israel with the help of the US, Britain, France and Jordan, while Israeli retaliation was mild, following intense pressure from the international community. The White House, yesterday, reaffirmed the “unwavering support” of the United States to Israel.
Fears are flaring up about escalation in the Middle East
The developments in the long-suffering Middle East are set to be dramatic and even worse than those of the last ten months, and the danger of a generalized conflict between Israel and all the extremist organizations in Lebanon, Mesopotamia and Yemen is now visible.
Organizations supported militarily and politically by Iran. Statements by the Israeli Minister of Defense, General E.A. Yoav Gallad, and the head of the IDF, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi. While last weekend the main focus of military tension was the port of Hodeidah in Houthi-controlled Yemen, in recent hours the confrontation is expected to be fierce, following the rocket attack by the radical Shiite group Hezbollah in Northern Israel.
In particular, a missile of Iranian origin hit a football field in the village of the Druze community, Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Majdal Shams is one of four villages in the Golan Heights, home to approximately 20,000-25,000 members of the Arabic-speaking Druze religious and ethnic group. The Golan Heights are home to approximately 50,000 Israeli Jewish settlers. Most Druze there identify as Syrian, and many of them have rejected offers of Israeli citizenship.
Netanyahu, as well as members of the government, have already said that the Lebanese organization has crossed the “red lines”, which is why the upcoming Israeli strikes are expected to be severe. However, after the Hamas attack on southern Israel, about ten months ago, the northern Israel-South Lebanon front is “hot” every day.
US intelligence officials believe Hezbollah carried out an attack in the Golan Heights, but are unsure of the group’s intentions. CIA operatives in the Middle East have no doubt that Hezbollah carried out the attack, but it is unclear whether the Lebanese extremist group intended the specific civilian target or made a mistake. Israel immediately blamed Hezbollah for the attack, but the Iran-backed group said it had nothing to do with the incident. Following the news of the fatal shooting at the soccer field, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu (who was visiting the US) said he was cutting his trip short by several hours and returning to Israel, while convening the Security Cabinet. The US Secretaries of State and Defense, Anton Blinken and Lloyd Austin, who are in critical contact with their counterparts in Japan and South Korea, were immediately informed of the fatal incident.
Netanyahu, who is under huge pressure from the Israelis to safely bring back the hostages still in Gaza, met with US President Joe Biden, Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, and Donald Trump during his diplomatic trip last week.
The ceasefire has been under negotiation for months. US officials and Qatari diplomats believe the parties are closer than ever to an agreement on a six-week ceasefire in exchange for Hamas releasing women, sick, elderly and wounded hostages.
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