The United Nations (UN) has warned the Middle East “cannot afford another open conflict” as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah continue to grow following an attack on the Golan Heights.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Saturday that at least 12 people, mostly children, had been killed in an attack on a soccer field in Majdal Shams. It claimed Hezbollah was responsible for the attack.
Hezbollah denied any responsibility.
Here’s the latest.
Hezbollah
Hezbollah is derived from the Arabic term ‘Hizb Allah’, which translates to ‘Party of God’. Australia lists it as a terrorist organisation.
The group was established after Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Israel officially withdrew from Lebanon in 2000. Two major conflicts between Hezbollah and Israel have both ended in ceasefires.
Iran supports the group in the form of training, funding, and arms. Hezbollah’s manifesto calls for the destruction of Israel and the creation of an Iran-like Islamic state in Lebanon.
Israel and Hezbollah
Shortly after Hamas’ 7 October attack on Israel, Hezbollah declared: “Our souls are with you. Our history and guns and our rockets are with you.” It’s since fired around 2,000 drones and missiles into Israel.
In the last two months, the IDF has killed two senior Hezbollah commanders in Lebanon. It’s also fired rockets into Lebanon, killing at least 90 civilians, since October.
In response, Hezbollah vowed to “increase the intensity, strength, quantity and quality of our attacks”.
Golan Heights attack
On Saturday, the IDF announced that at least 12 people, mostly children, had been killed in Majdal Shams.
Madjal Shams is located within the Golan Heights, an area in the north of Israel with a large Arab population that has been under Israeli control since 1967 and was officially annexed from Syria in 1981.
The IDF claimed Hezbollah was responsible for the attack. In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Israel will not let this pass in silence. We will not overlook this.”
Hezbollah has denied it was responsible.
UN response
The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, condemned the attack, saying: “Children continue to bear the burden of the horrific violence plaguing the region”.
A statement from the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon added: “We urge the parties to exercise maximum restraint and to put a stop to the ongoing intensified exchanges of fire. It could ignite a wider conflagration that would engulf the entire region in a catastrophe beyond belief.”
International comments
The attack comes days after the leaders of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada issued a call for a de-escalation on Israel’s border with Lebanon.
In a joint statement, the three countries urged an end to “escalation of hostilities and rhetoric between the terror group Hizballah and Israel”.
The leaders raised concerns about thousands of displaced people on either side of the Israel-Lebanon border, saying further conflict puts “tens of thousands of civilians in Lebanon and Israel at risk”.
Gaza
The leaders of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, where according to data cited by the UN, more than 39,000 Palestinians have now been killed since 7 October.
On Saturday, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported that the IDF had launched an attack on a school in central Gaza, killing at least 30 people.
The IDF said in a statement it had targeted a “Hamas command and control centre inside the Khadija school compound in central Gaza”.
