The United States on Monday cautioned Israel about escalation with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah as Israel weighs its response to a rocket attack from Lebanon over the weekend that killed 12 youths in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights.
The attack increased concerns about a wider regional conflict, even as Hezbollah in a rare move denied having a role. Cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has occurred almost daily since the war with Hamas in Gaza began in October. On Monday, Israeli strikes killed two people on a motorcycle and injured three others in southern Lebanon, Lebanon’s state-run news agency said. Israeli military officials said they struck Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure.
An official with a Lebanese group told The Associated Press that Hezbollah has started moving precision-guided missiles but doesn’t want a full-blown war with Israel. Hezbollah has far superior firepower than Hamas, and analysts have said that igniting a war in Israel’s north while it’s engaged in Gaza would overburden the military.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the site of the rocket attack on Monday, saying that “our response will come, and it will be severe.” But some residents of the Druze village protested by tossing his wreath aside and saying the tragedy shouldn’t be used for political purposes.
Here’s the latest:
U.S. defense leaders speak with their Israeli counterparts after rocket strike
WASHINGTON — The top two U.S. defense leaders spoke with their Israeli counterparts, working to de-escalate tensions in the region in the wake of the Majdal Shams attack, the Defense Department said Monday.
Gen. CQ Brown, Jr., spoke Sunday with Chief of the Israeli General Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said Navy Capt. Jereal Dorsey, spokesman for the Joint Staff. Dorsey said the U.S. ”is actively striving to mitigate tensions.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, offering condolences for the attack. Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said they discussed efforts to finalize the hostage deal and ceasefire, and “continued efforts toward a diplomatic solution in the north that stops all attacks and allows citizens on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border to return home safely.”
Syrian citizen killed by Israeli drone strike in Lebanon, news outlet says
A Syrian civilian was killed in an Israeli drone strike in south Lebanon Monday, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported.
The 25-year-old man was with another man in a car that happened to be passing by when the strike hit a motorcycle in the area of Kfar Raman, the NNA said. It was not clear who the intended target was.
Around 500 people have been killed in Lebanon over nearly 10 months of low-level clashes between Israeli forces and the militant group Hezbollah. Most of them were fighters, but around 90 civilians have also been killed. In Israel, 22 soldiers and 24 civilians have been killed, including 12 children and teens killed over the weekend in a rocket strike in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
Israel has accused Hezbollah of carrying out the strike, while the Lebanese militant group has issued a rare denial of responsibility. Israeli officials have vowed to retaliate in Lebanon, kicking off a flurry of diplomatic efforts to limit the escalation.
U.S. urges restraint as Israel considers how to respond to rocket strike
WASHINGTON — The White House says that Israel has every right to respond to a recent strike on the Golan Heights, but is urging restraint amid boiling tensions on the Israeli-Lebanon border.
“There’s no reason, in our view, that this has to lead to some dramatic escalation,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Monday. “There’s still time and space for diplomacy.”
Kirby added that senior administration officials have been in close contact with Israeli officials since Saturday’s strike in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights killed 12 children and teens. Israel and the United States have blamed Hezbollah for the rocket attack. Hezbollah has denied having a role in the attack.
Kirby reiterated the White House position that Hezbollah is to blame for ratcheting up tensions along the Blue Line and said that Israel would speak for itself on how it would respond.
“It’s Hezbollah that started firing on Israel way back in October, and I think we need to keep that in mind,” Kirby said. “But nobody wants a broader war, and I’m confident that we’ll be able to avoid such an outcome.”
White House declines to comment on reports of Israel hardening its demands
WASHINGTON — White House national security spokesman John Kirby on Monday declined to comment on the reports of Israel hardening its demands. He said that the U.S. administration still that an agreement remains “close” to being achieved.
“There are teams at work right now trying to close these gaps, and I think it’s important that we give them the time and the space to do that in a way that, that doesn’t make it harder,” Kirby told reporters. “So again, we believe the gaps can be narrowed. We believe the details can be hashed out.”
Some airlines cancel or delay flights to Beirut amid Israel-Hezbollah tensions
NEW YORK — A small number of flights to and from Beirut’s international airport have been canceled this week as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah escalate and carriers cite security risks.
Due to “current developments in the Middle East,” the Lufthansa Group said three of its airlines — Lufthansa, Swiss and Eurowings — decided to suspend flights “up to and including” Aug. 5. Air France said it had suspended flights between Paris and Beirut for Monday and Tuesday.
In a statement, Air France said it is monitoring the situation and that “the safety of its customers and crews is its number one priority.”
Other airlines have reported delays. Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines said five flights have been delayed to arrive Tuesday morning due to “technical reasons related to the distribution of insurance risks.”
Western diplomat says Israel is expected to keep retaliation against Hezbollah within limits
BEIRUT — A Western diplomat whose country is involved in diplomatic efforts to prevent a major escalation in the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel says he anticipates Israel will keep its retaliation within boundaries that would not lead to an all-out war, similar to the exchange of strikes between Iran and Israel earlier this year after Israel struck an Iranian consular building in Syria.
“It’s clear that they (Israel) want to take a stance but without leading to a generalized conflict,” the diplomat said. “It’s sure that there will be a retaliation. It will be symbolic. It may be spectacular, but it will not be a reason for both parties to engage in a general escalation.” He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.
Israel is weighing its response after a weekend rocket attack in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights killed 12 children and teens. Israel blamed Hezbollah, which in a rare move denied having a role.