The scene at the majority Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights shortly after the missile strike<\/p>\n
With mounting opposition to the war in Gaza, the IDF\u2019s reluctance to more fully engage Hezbollah and the Israeli prime minister\u2019s position increasingly under threat in Israel, the events at Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights are just what Netanyahu\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n
First, the slaughter provides him with a pretext to escalate the war on Israel\u2019s northern border. In doing so he will likely have to call on the U.S. for assistance. So it\u2019s no coincidence that the missile strike on the small Druze town came shortly after he had finished addressing his servile adherents in the U.S. Congress.<\/p>\n
Should the war with Hezbollah escalate, as now seems likely, Netanyahu will need all the additional U.S. military support it can get.<\/p>\n
Secondly, this will help distract attention from the growing opposition to Netanyahu\u2019s leadership within Israel itself. The outrage sparked by the rocket attack will also help sweep aside any questions about Netanyahu\u2019s leadership amid calls for decisive action against Hezbollah.<\/p>\n
Calls for a ceasefire or at least some sort of negotiation settlement had been growing but this will stifle them, at least for now. Ed.<\/p>\n
At least 12 people were killed Saturday, mostly children and teens, and dozens more were wounded when a rocket fired from Lebanon hit a soccer field in the northern Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. It was the single deadliest Hezbollah attack on northern Israel since fighting there began in October.<\/p>\n
Residents and first responders described scenes of bloody carnage on the pitch. Though a warning siren had sounded, it was too short an alert for the victims, who were unable to flee in time. The IDF said late Saturday that all 12 fatalities were aged 10-20.<\/p>\n
The shocking attack led to swift promises of retaliation and talk of an unprecedented response among Israeli officials as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hurried home from the US, raising the specter of a fresh escalation and a potential full-blown war between Israel and the Lebanese terror group.<\/p>\n
A Biden administration official expressed concern that the deadly Hezbollah strike could spark an all-out war between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group. \u201cWhat happened today could be the trigger we have been worried about and tried to avoid for 10 months,\u201d the official told Axios.<\/p>\n
Politicians from across the spectrum expressed outrage at the attack and criticized the government\u2019s failure to bring security to the north after long months of fighting, while demanding decisive action against Hezbollah.<\/p>\n