Israel, Hezbollah and how the Golan Heights attack has fuelled conflict

A deadly rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights has intensified fears of a full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah group.

Twelve young people were killed when a blast hit a football field on Saturday (Jul 27), prompting outrage in Israel and vows of retaliation.

What is the Golan Heights, why is Israel there and how is Hezbollah involved in the regional conflict?

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE GOLAN HEIGHTS ATTACK?

According to the Israeli military, an Iranian rocket carrying a 50kg warhead hit a football field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in Golan Heights.

Twelve children and teenagers, aged between 10 and 16, were killed.

Israel claims Iran-backed Hezbollah fired the rocket. But Hezbollah has denied responsibility.

The attack was the deadliest for civilians south of the Lebanese border since the Oct 7 Hamas assault on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

WHAT IS HEZBOLLAH AND WHY IS IT FIGHTING ISRAEL?

Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, is a heavily armed militant and political movement based in Lebanon. It was established in 1982 to fight the Israeli occupation of south Lebanon.

Since then, it has grown into one of the region's most powerful militias - financed, equipped and trained by Iran.

According to Israeli intelligence, Hezbollah has an arsenal of over 70,000 rockets and missiles, including long-range and precision-guided weapons.

Since the Israel-Hamas war began, Hezbollah has supported Hamas by firing missiles, mortars, rockets and explosive drones into northern Israel almost daily. 

Hezbollah has said repeatedly it will not stop its attacks on Israel unless a ceasefire in Gaza comes into force. 

Like Hamas, the movement is designated by the US as a terrorist organisation.

Within Lebanon, Hezbollah is politically influential. Its alliance with the Shiite Amal Movement, headed by parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, ensures that together they represent most of the country’s Shiite community. 

It also operates a large network of social services that has shored up its base of support.

WHAT'S THE SIGNIFICANCE OF GOLAN HEIGHTS?

The Golan Heights is a rocky plateau in south-west Syria. It is a strategic territory that shares a border with Lebanon, Jordan and Israel.

After seizing about two-thirds of the plateau from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, Israel annexed the territory in 1981.

The annexation was not recognised by the international community, except the United States where in 2019, the Trump administration controversially recognised Israeli sovereignty in Golan Heights.

When Israel seized the Golan Heights, tens of thousands of Syrian as well as Palestinian residents fled or were expelled.

Today, more than 40,000 people live in Golan. About half of them are Jewish settlers. The rest are residents before the 1967 war or their descendants - most of them members of the Druze faith, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

Many members of the Druze community still identify as Syrians and have refused Israeli citizenship. 

WHAT IS SYRIA'S POSITION?

Syria wants to take back the Golan Heights. 

In the 1990s, it periodically engaged in negotiations under which Israel would return part or all of its Golan holdings in return for a peace treaty with Syria. Such talks came to a halt with the Arab uprisings of 2011 that led to a bloody civil war in Syria. 

Israel and Syria remain officially in a state of war, although a ceasefire line has been relatively calm over the decades.

HOW BAD COULD IT GET?

The recent strike in Golan Heights has sparked concerns that the months of cross-border hostilities could spiral into a broader, more destructive war.

"Our response will come and it will be severe," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in the wake of the attack.

Already, an Israeli drone strike on Jul 29 killed two Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon as well as three other people including an infant, sources said. They were the first fatalities in Lebanon since the Golan Heights incident.

The Israeli military said its air defences downed a drone that crossed from Lebanon into the Western Galilee area on Jul 29.

Past wars have inflicted heavy damage.

In 2006, Israeli strikes levelled large areas of Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs, knocked out Beirut airport, as well as hit roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Nearly 1 million people in Lebanon fled their homes.

In Israel, the impact included 300,000 people fleeing their homes to escape Hezbollah rockets and some 2,000 homes destroyed.

Hezbollah now has a far bigger arsenal than in 2006, including rockets it says can hit all parts of Israel.

HOW HAVE MAJOR PARTIES RESPONDED?

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said a flurry of diplomatic activity has sought to contain the anticipated Israeli response.

"Israel will escalate in a limited way and Hezbollah will respond in a limited way ... These are the assurances we've received," Bou Habib said in an interview with local broadcaster Al-Jadeed.

Several analysts told AFP that this was likely to be the case, with Israel wary of having to fight wars on two fronts.

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 on Monday, emphasised the importance of preventing an escalation of the conflict.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he was "confident" a broader war could be avoided.

He also said the Golan incident should not affect ongoing negotiations on a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas.

The UN peacekeeping mission in south Lebanon said it had intensified contacts with Israel and Lebanese authorities to dial down tensions.

"Nobody wants to start a wider conflict, but a miscalculation could trigger one. There is still space for a diplomatic solution," spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said.