In reaction to a missile attack that killed 12 children playing soccer in Golan Heights, world leaders carried out urgent negotiations on Sunday in an attempt to deter Israel from escalating its strikes on Lebanon.
The White House supported Israeli claims that Saturday’s strike was the result of a missile firing from an area under the control of the Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also insisted that it need to be denounced worldwide.
Nevertheless, a statement from the White House stated that the US was “also working on a diplomatic solution… that will end all attacks once and for all.” Antony Blinken US Secretary of State also made a clear statement when visiting Tokyo. Additionally, we don’t want the dispute to get worse. We wish to prevent its proliferation, he remarked.
The French President Emmanuel Macron made further contact with Netanyahu, informing him that his country is still trying to do anything to prevent an increase in violence in the Middle East.
They claimed that a cessation to the current escalated rounds of bombardment is required. It has the potential to spark a more extensive fire that would encompass the entire area in an unimaginably devastating event, they continued.Thousands of people witnessed the funeral ceremonies on Sunday for the twelve kids, ages ten to sixteen, who lost their lives in the football field.
Lebanese “Must Pay the Price” Threatens Netanyahu
Declaring that Hezbollah will be forced to “pay a heavy price” and threatening a retaliation, Netanyahu left the US headed straight to Tel Aviv. Within hours, Israeli aircraft attacked southern Lebanon.
In order to assess Israel’s reaction, Netanyahu then called a meeting on Sunday afternoon with his ministers. Following the meeting, Netanyahu’s office announced that the prime minister and defense minister were given permission by the security committee to choose the “type” and “timing” of Israel’s reaction to Hezbollah’s strike.
There are now worries about an additional conflict in the region above Israel’s attack on Gaza. Chiefs of the Israeli military said that Hezbollah was behind the missile assault. When it claimed to be responsible for a barrage of rocket fire earlier that day in the occupied Golan Heights, Hezbollah has denied taking blame for what happened.
In the hours following the strike, US ambassador Amos Hochstein, who had led negotiations, tried to defuse tensions by speaking with a few of the Lebanese ministers.
The discussions came after vehement remarks made by Israeli officials, such as Bezalel Smotrich, who declared that “all of Lebanon must pay the price” for the terrorist attack.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, has said before that if a deal was struck to end the conflict in Gaza, which has claimed the lives of over 39,000 people since Israel launched its offensive on the territory last October, the militant organization would cease the assaults on Israel’s northern boundary.
