Middle East tensions: Israel wants to hit Hezbollah but avoid war, according to officials

Israel wants to hurt Hezbollah but not drag the Middle East into all-out war, two Israeli officials say, as Lebanon braces for retaliation after a rocket strike that killed 12 children and teenagers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Two other Israeli officials said Israel was preparing for the possibility of a few days of fighting following Saturday’s deadly rocket strike at a sports field in a Druze town that it blamed on the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Hezbollah has denied any connection with the incident but the situation between the two countries was enough for both Smart Traveller and Australian PM Anthony Albanese to warn against any travel to Lebanon.

“The travel advice very clearly is don’t go to Lebanon,” Mr Albanese said on Tuesday.

“That is the travel advice, and also that people who are there, who are Australian citizens, should ensure that they take advantage of the commercial flights that are available out of Lebanon at this time.”

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said any Israeli attack on Lebanon would have “serious consequences” for Israel, Iranian state media quoted him on Monday as telling French President Emmanuel Macron in a phone call.

All four Israeli officials, who included a senior defence official and a diplomatic source, gave no further information about Israel’s plans for retaliation.

“The estimation is that the response will not lead to an all-out war,” the diplomatic source said.

“That would not be in our interest at this point.”

In a statement after he visited Majdal Shams, the site of Saturday’s attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “The state of Israel will not and cannot let this pass. Our response will come and it will be harsh.”

Both Israel and Hezbollah have appeared at pains to avoid a full-scale war since they began trading blows in October.

The United States is leading a diplomatic dash to deter Israel from striking Lebanon’s capital Beirut or major civil infrastructure, five people with knowledge of the matter said.

But Saturday’s incident has increased concerns the months of cross-border hostilities could spiral into a broader, more destructive war.

An Israeli drone strike killed two Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon on Monday as well as three other people including an infant, sources said.

They were the first fatalities in Lebanon since Saturday’s incident.

The Israeli military said its air defences downed a drone that crossed from Lebanon into the Western Galilee area on Monday.

Israel’s security cabinet has authorised Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant to decide on the manner and timing of a response to Saturday’s strike.

Gallant reaffirmed, in comments to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday, that “Iranian proxy Hezbollah” would be held responsible for the rocket strike.

Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted unidentified officials as saying the response would be “limited but significant”.

Exacerbated by the Gaza conflict, hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have been their worst since they went to war in 2006.

Hezbollah, an ally of Palestinian militant group Hamas, has said its attacks on Israel have aimed to support the Palestinians and indicated it will only cease fire when Israel’s offensive on Gaza stops.

While Washington has also blamed Hezbollah for the rocket strike and defended Israel’s right to respond, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a phone call with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, emphasised the importance of preventing escalation of the conflict.