An apparent Hezbollah-launched strike that hit civilians and children in Israeli-controlled Golan Heights has spiked concerns in the U.S. that Israel and Hezbollah are on the verge of a full-scale war, according to multiple reports.
Israel and Hezbollah have gradually increased attacks against each other in recent months amid surging conflicts in the Middle East that were first sparked on Oct. 7 by Hamas, which invaded Israel on that date and killed roughly 1,200 people. A missile launched from Lebanon — which Israeli forces have said was from Hezbollah — struck in the Golan Heights region, wounding 30 and killing at least 10 civilians, most of whom were children, according to Axios.
“We immediately began triage; several casualties were evacuated to local clinics,” Magen David Adom, part of rescue efforts, told The New York Times.
The latest escalation has raised concerns inside the U.S. that Israel and Hezbollah will break into a major war, according to Axios.
“What happened today could be the trigger we have been worried about and tried to avoid for 10 months,” one U.S. official told Axios. Hezbollah has denied that it was responsible for the strike.
Israel and Hezbollah have been involved in low-level skirmishes with each other for months, as Hezbollah has vowed to support Hamas after the terrorist group attacked Israel last October. But tensions have escalated dramatically in recent months, with both sides increasing fire on the other across the Israel-Lebanese border.
Israeli forces appear to have taken Saturday’s strike as a massive escalation and a step even closer to an “all-out war,” according to Axios’ Barak Ravid.
“[Hezbollah] will pay a heavy price for this attack, one that it has not paid so far,” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a statement on Saturday, according to The Associated Press.
“We are approaching the moment of an all-out war against Hezbollah and Lebanon,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Ravid. “We will pay prices, but at the end of the war [Hezbollah’s leader Hassan] Nasrallah and Hezbollah will be destroyed and the state of Lebanon will be severely damaged.
The Biden administration has been concerned for months that an Israeli-Hezbollah war was rapidly approaching, and Saturday’s strike only raised those concerns, according to Axios. U.S. officials believe that a ceasefire in Gaza — the theater of war between Israel and Hamas — may be the only way to ensure Israel and Hezbollah don’t break into war with each other.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is leaving early from his trip to the U.S. to address the fatal incident in Golan, his office announced Saturday.
The IDF declined to comment on operational plans to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
