Fear of wildfire after rocket attack on the Golan

An Iranian-made projectile kills at least twelve young people during a soccer match. The shocking incident on the Golan Heights fuels fears of a major regional war.

A devastating rocket attack on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights has killed at least twelve young people and increased the risk of a larger war in the region. Israel blamed the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, which is allied with Iran, for the attack and threatened a harsh response. According to military sources, the Israeli Air Force bombed several Hezbollah targets in Lebanon during the night.

The incident sparked international dismay and concern about an escalation of violence in the region. UN representatives called on both parties to exercise “the greatest possible restraint”. The USA and the EU also condemned the attack.

The deadly incident in Majdal Shams was the worst so far on the Israeli side since fighting with Hezbollah began nearly ten months ago. The rocket attack in the Golan Heights followed an Israeli attack in the village of Kfar Kila near the Lebanese-Israeli border in which Hezbollah said four of its members were killed.

At least twelve people aged between 10 and 20 were killed on Saturday in the rocket attack in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, most of them children and young people. According to Israeli sources, an Iranian-made rocket hit a busy soccer field there. Eyewitnesses described gruesome scenes with mangled corpses. Thousands of people attended the funeral of the young victims.

Hezbollah said in a statement that it had nothing to do with the attack. However, Israel dismissed this as false. During a visit to the site of the impact, Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said that it was a Falak rocket with a 53-kilogram warhead. It was a Hezbollah rocket. “Anyone who fires such a rocket at a residential area wants to kill civilians, wants to kill children.”

The Golan Heights is a strategically important rocky plateau, about 60 kilometers long and 25 kilometers wide. The plateau was conquered by Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967 and annexed in 1981. However, this was not recognized internationally. Under international law, the areas are considered Israeli-occupied Syrian territory. Former US President Donald Trump formally recognized the Golan Heights as Israeli territory in March 2019, thereby reversing US foreign policy.

The rocket attack hit a place where mainly Arabic-speaking Druze live. The religious community emerged from Shiite Islam in the eleventh century. In Israel, many Druze serve in the army.

A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said there was only one way to prevent a full-scale war, “which would also be devastating for Lebanon.” Hezbollah must be forced to withdraw beyond the Litani River in accordance with a UN resolution, wrote Oren Marmorstein at X. This is 30 kilometers from the border between Israel and Lebanon. “Now it is the very last minute to do this diplomatically.”

In an effort to defuse the situation, US envoy Amos Hochstein spoke with leading Druze politician Walid Jumblatt in Lebanon. Hochstein expressed concern about the deadly attack in Majdal Shams, Jumblatt’s office said. It is necessary for Israel to immediately stop its attacks in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, the former MP said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened: “Hezbollah will pay a high price for this, a price it has not yet paid.” He convened the security cabinet after his return from the USA. Netanyahu had given a speech to Congress in the USA and met with US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President and presidential candidate Donald Trump. He brought forward his departure from Washington by several hours.

Israeli military expert Sarit Zehavi pointed out that before the fatal incident, the Shiite militia had claimed responsibility for attacks on an Israeli military base on Mount Hermon. “It is very easy to miss the base on Mount Hermon with inaccurate rockets such as the Falak,” she said. Majdal Shams is located directly below it.