Twelve teenagers dead

Major war with Lebanon looms after rocket attack

Less than 24 hours after the attack, the Druze community accompanied the victims to their graves in Majdal Shams.

(Bild: AP/Hussein Malla)

Twelve young people were killed during a soccer match on Sunday night. Hezbollah has "crossed all red lines" with its attack - now a new war in the Middle East is looming.

The small Druze village of Madschdal Shams below Mount Hermon on the Golan annexed by Israel is currently something like the eye of a hurricane that could drag the entire region into the abyss. Since the rocket attack by the Shiite Lebanese terrorist militia Hezbollah on a soccer pitch in Majdal Shams, in which twelve boys between the ages of ten and twenty were killed, the danger of a major war breaking out on the Israeli-Lebanese border is greater than it has been for many years.

Fear of conflagration
There is fear of a conflagration, a war into which Syria, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, even Cyprus and therefore the EU could be drawn alongside Lebanon, Israel and its closest ally, the USA. A war that would have a devastating impact on Lebanon, which is already on its knees, but which could also lead to high casualty figures and great destruction in Israel. After all, Hezbollah, which is massively supported by Iran, is not comparable to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

In retaliation for a rocket attack on a soccer pitch in the Golan Heights that left twelve dead, Israel said it had attacked several targets in Lebanon on Sunday morning.

(Bild: AP)

In Lebanon, Hezbollah has developed into a state within a state, and its leader Hassan Nassrallah enjoys a god-like reputation, at least among the Shiites. He commands tens of thousands of men under arms who are extremely battle-hardened, not least because of the war in Syria, where they are on the side of dictator Assad - ready to die a martyr's death for God and Nasrallah at any time. Thousands of them are venerated like saints in the Hezbollah cemeteries in Lebanon.

The mothers of the fallen do not mourn their deaths; they are proud of their sons' sacrifice, which has brought glory and honor to the whole family. In contrast to Hamas, Hezbollah also has long-range rockets with which the militia can probably reach any target in Israel. Even rockets with very high explosive power.

Terror warriors with a large arsenal
The terror warriors' arsenal is estimated at 150,000 rockets and more. Since October 8, 2023, the day after the Hamas terror massacre in Israel, in which more than 1,200 people were murdered and more than 230 kidnapped in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah has been firing rockets into northern Israel on a daily basis - a show of solidarity by the Shia militia, which has nothing in common with the Sunni Hamas except for their common enemy Israel.

Nasrallah has entered the conflict with corresponding restraint. The counter-attacks by the Israeli army were correspondingly restrained. However, it was clear from the very first shot that the situation on the northern front could escalate into open warfare at any time, for example through a misguided rocket such as the one that presumably hit the soccer pitch in Majdal Shams. Misguided, because Majdal Shams is a Druze village. However, Druze do not only live in Israel; around 400,000 members of this non-Muslim religious group also live in Lebanon.

Rocket probably had a different target
Fearing their revenge, Hezbollah denies being responsible for the attack. However, Israeli and American experts have no doubt that Hezbollah is to blame: The Iranian Falak-1 missile used, with 53 kilograms of explosives, is only used by Hezbollah. As these missiles are not very accurate, it is assumed that the projectile was actually intended to hit an Israeli military camp on Mount Hermon. The Israeli counter-attacks were not long in coming, but for the time being they were still "on target", if this expression may be used in this context. Prime Minister Netanyahu was still on his flight back from the USA at the time.

No way around a military offensive?
He had already convened the security cabinet in Jerusalem on Sunday evening and made it clear: "Hezbollah will pay a high price for its attack. A price that it has not yet paid." In fact, the situation in northern Israel has been unbearable since October 8. Tens of thousands of people have been resettled from Lebanon due to the ongoing attacks, have been living for many months in hotels that the state has to finance, are unable to work and often live with their children in precarious conditions.

Only a few heavily armed men have remained in the villages and kibbutzim as guards. And with every day that passes, with every rocket that strikes northern Israel, many Israelis are becoming increasingly convinced that there is no way around a military offensive in Lebanon. No matter what the cost. And Israeli politicians have already threatened to bomb Beirut to rubble, even to bomb Lebanon back to the Stone Age.