Israel Claims Try To Avoid Major War As A Retaliatory In Lebanon

Bodies of teenagers and children who were victims of the Hezbollah attack in the Golan Heights, Syria, occupied by Israel/PHOTO via Instagram @stateofisrael

JAKARTA - Israel wants to kill Hezbollah but does not drag the Middle East into a major war, two Israeli officials said.

Lebanon is preparing for retaliation after a rocket attack that killed 12 children and adolescents in Israel in Israel in Israel's occupied Golan Heights last weekend.

Two other officials said Israel was preparing for a possible battle a few days after a rocket attack on Saturday, July 27, on a sports field in Druze village.

The four officials, including a senior defense and diplomatic official, spoke without naming and did not provide further information on Israel's retaliatory plans.

"This estimate of the response will not lead to an all-out war," the diplomatic source said.

"It's not in our interest at this time," he added.

Israel and the United States blamed Hezbollah Lebanon for the attack. Hezbollah denied any role.

The incident adds to fears of cross-border hostilities over months between Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese group could turn into a broader and more destructive war.

On Sunday, Israel's security cabinet authorized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to decide how and time to respond to the attack.

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted unnamed officials as saying the response given would be "constrained but significant".

The report says existing options range from limited attacks on infrastructure, including bridges, power plants and ports, to attacking Hezbollah's weapons depots or targeting Hezbollah commanders.

Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian group Hamas, said the campaign of rocket attacks and drones against Israel was aimed at supporting the Palestinian people, and indicated they would only carry out a ceasefire when Israeli attacks on Gaza stopped.

Conflicts on the Israeli-Lebanon border have forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes on both sides.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a phone call with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday, July 29, stressed the importance of preventing conflict escalation, the US State Department said.

The two discussed efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution that would allow residents on both sides of the border to return to their homes, and ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of detained hostages there.

Germany called on all parties involved in the Middle East conflict, particularly Iran, to prevent escalation.

Israeli drone strikes killed two Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon on Monday, security sources said.

Both were the first fatalities in Lebanon since last week's attack on Golan. Three other people including a baby were injured in the attack, a Lebanese civil defense official said.

The Israeli military said its air defenses shot down a drone that crossed from Lebanon into Western Galilean territory on Monday.

Flights at Beirut's international airport were canceled or delayed as airlines anticipated Israel's possible response.

Both Israel and Hezbollah have been trying hard to avoid a full-scale war since they began attacking each other in October 2023.

Hezbollah denied firing the rocket that killed the children.

He explained that his party fired missiles at military targets in the Golan Heights, a border area Israel captured from Syria after the 1967 Middle East war.

Israeli attacks have killed about 350 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and more than 100 civilians, including medics, children and journalists, according to security and medical sources and a Reuters tally of notices of deaths issued by Hezbollah.

The Israeli military said after last weekend's attack the death toll among civilians killed in the Hezbollah attack had risen to 23 since October 2023, along with 17 soldiers.