- Netanyahu met for hours with security officials late Sunday
- We ‘don’t want to see the conflict escalate,’ Blinken says
The US and other world powers sought to prevent Israel and Hezbollah’s conflict turning into a full-blown war after a rocket attack that killed several children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met security officials for several hours late Sunday to decide on the type and timing of Israel’s response to Saturday’s strike which killed 12 Druze youngsters at a football field and risked triggering the all-out conflict with Hezbollah that’s been feared for months. While Israel has said it will react forcefully, it didn’t launch major strikes on Lebanon overnight and there are signs Netanyahu wants to allow efforts for a cease-fire deal with Hamas in Gaza to progress.
Several Israeli news outlets reported the government was seeking a “limited but significant” action that would send a message but not spiral out of control. So far, Israel’s military has not called up extra reservists or put the north of the country on an increased state of alert. The prime minister sent the head of Mossad, Israel’s external-intelligence agency, to Rome on Sunday to speak with mediators in the Israel-Hamas war, including Qatar and the US. Netanyahu said “negotiations on the main issues will continue in the coming days.” NAN:
Endless Stupidity War Without End
“If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed;
if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may
come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.”
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