Israel’s security cabinet has authorized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the defense minister to decide when and how to retaliate for a deadly rocket attack that Israel and the United States say was carried out by Lebanon’s Shia Muslim militant group Hezbollah.
Ministers held an emergency meeting after an attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday evening that killed 12 children and teenagers from the Druze community. Hezbollah has denied responsibility.
It was the deadliest cross-border incident in months of fighting between the two sides.
The attack has raised concerns that the so-far relatively restrained hostilities could escalate into all-out war.
Western governments are urging Israel to exercise restraint in its response.
The White House said it had been in “constant discussions with our Israeli and Lebanese partners since the horrific attack” on the stadium in the Druze town of Majdal Shams.
It said it was “also working on a diplomatic solution along the Green Line.” [the unofficial frontier between Israel and Lebanon] will end all attacks once and for all.”
An Israeli drone strike outside the Lebanese town of Shaqra, about 6.5 kilometers (four miles) from the Israeli border, killed two people on Monday morning, Lebanese state media said. Hezbollah said the men killed were two of its fighters. Israel has not commented on the report.
Meanwhile, Air France has become the latest airline to suspend flights to and from Beirut as anticipation of Israeli retaliation grows. Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines and Eurowings have also suspended similar flights.
In Majdal Shams, funerals for the young victims took place on Sunday amid scenes of extreme grief. Thousands gathered as white-draped coffins were carried through the town.
The attack was the deadliest against the Druze community, who have lived in the Golan Heights for centuries. They are part of an Arabic-speaking ethnic and religious group based in Lebanon, Syria, the Golan Heights and northern Israel.
The Israeli-occupied Golan Heights have been under Israeli rule since Israel captured the area from Syria in the 1967 war, although many still maintain their allegiance to Syria. There are about 21,000 people living on the rocky plateau, of whom about 20% have accepted Israeli citizenship.
The attack on Majdal Shams has sparked outrage across Israel and the Druze community, of which about 110,000 also live in Israel.
Mr Netanyahu cut short a visit to the United States to return to Israel after the attack. He met with defence officials before convening his security cabinet on Sunday.
After the hours-long meeting, the prime minister’s office issued a brief statement, saying only that “Cabinet members authorized the prime minister and defense minister to decide how and when to respond to the terrorist organization Hezbollah.”
In an earlier condolence call to the spiritual leader of Israel’s Druze community, Sheikh Muafak Ṭarif, Netanyahu said Hezbollah would “pay a heavy price for this, which they have not paid so far”.
Hezbollah has strongly denied being behind the attack, with reports suggesting the bloodshed was caused by a malfunctioning Israeli interceptor missile.
In a statement on Sunday, Israeli army chief of staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) knew “exactly where the rocket was launched from”.
General Halevi identified it as an Iranian-made Falaq unguided surface-to-surface missile with a 53kg warhead. “This is a Hezbollah missile. And whoever launches such a missile into a populated area wants to kill civilians, wants to kill children,” he said.
Previously sporadic fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has escalated since Hezbollah fired rockets at Israeli positions a day after a deadly Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. Hezbollah said it was acting in support of the Palestinians.
