Israel and Hezbollah 'on brink of war' after football pitch attack kills children

Paramedics help children moments after a rocket attack hit a soccer field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams. AP
Paramedics help children moments after a rocket attack hit a soccer field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams. Credit: AP

After almost ten months teetering on the brink of all-out war, Israel and Hezbollah are now closer to that nightmare scenario than ever.

The Americans in particular have been working hard to prevent unrestrained conflict from erupting.

In the immediate aftermath of the Hamas rampage on 7 October, Washington sent two aircraft carrier battle groups to the eastern Mediterranean to dissuade Hezbollah from launching an all-out assault.

However hardliners in the Israeli government have been itching to take the gloves off and what happened in the Druze village of Majdal Shams may give them the excuse they’ve been looking for.

The killing of 12 children and adolescents while playing football is highly emotive and demands an Israeli response. Both sides have tended to concentrate on military targets in their tit-for-tat exchanges, so this was a huge mistake.

Given that most of the Druze community live in Lebanon it’s actually as big a blunder as Hezbollah could make.

And the importance of the Druze sect in Lebanon is probably why the Iranian-backed militant group has been so vociferous in its denials of responsibility.

Bicycles sit next to the area that was hit by a rocket that killed young people at a football pitch in the Druze town of Majdal Shams. Credit: AP

Majdal Shams is one of the Druze villages captured by Israel when it seized the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War in June 1967. The Arabic-speaking Druze are a valued minority in Israel not least because many of them serve in the IDF.

The Druze are one of those minorities who frequently find themselves caught in the middle of wider conflicts despite their best efforts to mind their own business. It’s obvious why they try to live in isolation in defensible mountainous areas.

They had to fight for themselves during the civil war in Lebanon. Their charismatic and vocal leader from that time, Walid Jumblatt is still going.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have abandoned their homes near the Lebanese border because of the ongoing violence. The Druze of Majdal Shams stayed put because they assumed they would never be a target.

But they were wrong.

The one thing that could take the heat out of the situation is a ceasefire in Gaza, but yet again the Israeli Prime Minister stands accused of introducing new conditions that make it more difficult for Hamas to agree terms.

These conditions include maintaining an IDF presence on the Gaza-Egyptian border to prevent the resumption of the smuggling of weaponry to Hamas, and checkpoints to prevent armed men from returning to northern Gaza during any truce. Negotiations continue.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...