BEIRUT: Israel wants to hurt Hezbollah but not drag the West Asia into all-out war, two Israeli officials said on Monday, as Lebanon braced for retaliation after a rocket strike that killed 12 children and teenagers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Two other Israeli officials said Israel was preparing for the possibility of a few days of fighting following Saturday’s rocket strike at a sports field in a Druze town that it blamed on the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has denied any connection with the incident.
“The estimation is that the response will not lead to an all-out war,” said the diplomatic source. “That would not be in our interest at this point.”
The incident has increased concerns that months of cross-border hostilities between Israel and the heavily armed Hezbollah could spiral into a broader, more destructive war.
On Sunday, Israel’s security cabinet authorised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant to decide on the manner and timing of a response to the strike in the Golan town of Majdal Shams.
Prompted by the Gaza war, the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have been their worst since they went to war in 2006.