For Now, a Restrained Response to Missile Attack that Killed 12 Children

July 29—It is a time of high tension in Southwest Asia, as most of the world awaits the outbreak of a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah over the single missile strike July 27 on a Druze village in northern Israel that killed 12 children.

That war and its slaughter of Palestinians and other Arabs, including in Lebanon, has been on the agenda of the Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu for some time. He was only waiting for an event that he could use to justify the slaughter, just as he had used the attack of Oct. 7 by Hamas, as the excuse to unleash death and destruction in Gaza.

Bibi’s plan has nothing really to do with either Hamas or Hezbollah or revenge for any of their attacks on Israel, or, in the case of Hamas, the murder of Israeli civilians and taking of hostages. Rather, it has everything to do with his messianic desire to drown in blood the possibility of a Palestinian state.

So far, under extreme pressure from the U.S. to show restraint, Israel has shown some in launching air attacks on Hezbollah weapons and other facilities in Lebanon and in the West Bank. There are no reports, as of this writing, of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) massing troops and armor for an incursion into the West Bank and beyond.

Netanyahu has made ominous statements upon his return from his U.S. tour that Israel will make Hezbollah pay for what it has done to “the children,” which many informed sources, even in Israel, find absurd coming from Bibi, whose reign of death in Gaza has slaughtered tens of thousands of women and children, about which he claims there is nothing to be alarmed. Netanyahu’s show of feigned interest in protecting children, asking to visit the families of the slain Druze children, was rebuffed. They told him that they had no desire to meet with him.

While the Israelis produced evidence that the missile that struck the soccer field was Iranian made, of the type only Hezbollah is known to possess, there are questions: Was the Druze village really the target? Was it really Hezbollah or some Israeli faction that fired it, or some other agency?

In a ministry statement, Lebanon’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah Bou Habib, said he “expected the Majdal Shams [the Druze village] strike was carried out by other organizations, or was an Israeli mistake or a mistake by Hezbollah.” He insisted that Hezbollah targets “only military” positions, ruling out the possibility of them intentionally attacking the Druze civilians. He “called for the complete and comprehensive application” of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, affirming that Hezbollah is ready to withdraw north of the Litani River if Israel halts its “violations.”

In a post on X which attributed the attack to Hezbollah, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Mammorstein wrote: “The only way that the world can prevent a full-scale war which would be devastating also to Lebanon is by forcing Hezbollah to implement [the 2006 United Nations] Security Council Resolution 1701,” which created a buffer zone inside Lebanon. (Only Lebanon’s military and UN forces are allowed to be south of the Litani River, about 18 miles north of the border between Israel and Lebanon.) Marmorstein concluded: “Now is the very last minute to do so diplomatically.”

Bou Habib told Reuters that his country’s government had asked the U.S. to persuade Israel to refrain from any rash actions, adding that Washington had asked Beirut to pressure Hezbollah into doing the same. Then, in an interview with the Saudi-owned Al Hadath news channel, warned that Israel should “think carefully…. A large attack by Israel on Lebanon will lead to a deterioration of the regional situation and will spark regional war.”

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani cautioned Israel “against any adventurism…. Any stupid measure by the Zionist regime can lead to the expansion of the scope of instability, insecurity and the flames of war in the region.”

Sources report that the real source of the restraint on the part of the Israelis is coming from the IDF leadership. While claiming they are ready to fight Hezbollah, they say they really do not want to do this if it can be avoided. These sources say that the IDF realizes that Hezbollah is a trained and well-armed fighting force, unlike Hamas, and that any war will send many more body-bags back to an Israel already tired of Bibi’s wars.

“The military knows that the only way out of their bind is the completion of the ceasefire/hostage deal that establishes a pathway to end Bibi’s wars and to end him,” said a source with knowledge of IDF thinking. “They are hoping against hope that CIA Director William Burns, America’s most able diplomat, can pull a rabbit out of the hat this week, and drive home a deal, in the negotiations ongoing in Rome.

Meanwhile, Bibi has once again tried to sabotage the talks with the absurd demands, including a previous demand that displaced Palestinians submit to screening, should they wish to return to northern Gaza when the cease-fire begins. This demand is a retreat from the previous agreement, allowing civilians who fled south to freely return to the rubble of what remains of their homes and hospitals, schools, and places of worship and work. Netanyahu’s own negotiating team is said to be in a state of rebellion and may yet work something out.

Sounds absurd, doesn’t it? But in this crazy situation you need something “crazy” to happen to avert a war. Hezbollah has said that if there is a deal in Gaza, they will halt hostilities and will seek an agreement for the West Bank. This possibility is literally driving even more crazy the lunatics in Bibi’s coalition, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, and the dangerously insane settlers who they speak for and deploy. I know the Lebanese believe that there is a real possibility that the settlers, with some help, may have launched this rocket.”

The latest report from Rome is that the negotiations on a settlement for Gaza and ceasefire/hostage arrangement are continuing. Sources report that Netanyahu wanted to use the rocket attack as an excuse to pull his negotiators out but thought better of it. “What would have happened if they refused to go?” asked the source. Only David Barnea, the Director of the Mossad, was asked to return to Israel.