The Israeli Foreign Ministry has warned that now is the last chance to avoid a full-scale clash between West Jerusalem and Hezbollah, insisting that the Lebanon-based militia must withdraw from the southern part of the country.
The statement came after Israel accused Hezbollah of a rocket attack on a soccer field in the Golan Heights on Saturday that killed at least 12 teenagers and children and wounded about 20 others. Hezbollah has denied involvement in the attack.
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In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, Oren Marmorstein, the spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, called the tragedy a “massacre,” claiming that the rocket was of Iranian origin, and “Hezbollah is the only terror organization which has those in its arsenal.”
Warning that Israel would respond to the attack, he noted that “the only way that the world can prevent a full-scale war which would be devastating also to Lebanon” is to force Hezbollah to implement Security Council Resolution 1701.
The document, passed unanimously by the UN Security Council in 2006, sought to end full-scale hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. One of its goals was to create a neutral buffer zone between the two states. However, while Israeli forces withdrew from Lebanon, Hezbollah did not fully comply, with its military remaining in the southern part of the country on Israel’s border.
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“Now is the very last minute to do so diplomatically,” Marmorstein added, urging the global community to impose sanctions on Iran – which for years has had close ties with Hezbollah – and calling to designate both the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations.
Israel’s military claims to have already retaliated, saying that air strikes have been carried out on Hezbollah targets “both deep inside Lebanese territory and in southern Lebanon.”
The chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Herzi Halevi, said that the military is increasing its readiness for “the next stage in the fighting in the north,” adding that “when required we will act strongly.”
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani cautioned the Jewish state “against any adventurism.” “Any stupid measure by the Zionist regime can lead to the expansion of the scope of instability, insecurity and the flames of war in the region,” he warned.
Numerous Western leaders and UN officials have called on both sides to exercise restraint. Meanwhile, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told Reuters that his country’s government had asked the US to persuade Israel to refrain from any rash actions, adding that Washington had asked Beirut to pressure Hezbollah into doing the same.