The Israel-Lebanon conflict

Expert: Israel not ready to respond to the attack

Many Israelis want the country to respond forcefully to the attack on a soccer field in the village of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights on Saturday. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely worried that the conflict with Hezbollah will escalate into a full-scale war. It says Randa Slim at the Middle East Institute in Washington DC to Al Jazeera.

- I don't think the Israeli prime minister is interested in another full-scale war at the moment, partly because there are uncontrollable and hard-to-foresee consequences of a war in Lebanon involving Hezbollah. Because if it escalates, the conflict will eventually include Iran.

The Lebanese militia group Hezbollah has been singled out by Israel as being responsible for the attack on Majdal Shams. The group is supported by Iran.

During the night to Sunday, Israel struck several targets inside Lebanon, but Middle East expert Anders Persson believes that more attacks are to be expected.

- I don't think we have seen the end of the Israeli response, he tells TT.

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Israel raises alert: "It was a Hezbollah robot"

Israel's military is "increasing readiness for the next stage of fighting in the north," says General Herzi Halevi, according to the Times of Israel.

The general visited during the night and morning the city of Majdal Shams, where at least 12 people were killed by a robot attack on Saturday night.

- We know exactly where the robot was fired from. We have examined the remains of the robot here on the soccer field, and can confirm that it is a falaq robot with a 53 kilo warhead. It is a Hezbollah robot, Halevi said in a video statement from the scene.

Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs states in a statement that Hezbollah "crossed all red lines" with the attack on Majdal Shams.

Hezbollah has denied involvement.

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Expert describes attack as "nightmare scenario"

The attack that killed at least eleven children and young people at a soccer field in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights is "exactly the type of event" that allows low-intensity battles to develop into full-scale wars.

Middle East expert Anders Persson tells SR Ekot that the situation is serious. He points out that several analysts have warned that attacks on places where children and young people are found will develop into a larger conflict.

- It is something that assessors have seen as one of the nightmare scenarios.

According to Persson, it is likely that the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah is behind the attack. In an interview with TT, however, he points out that it must not have been carried out with precision weapons and that the target could have been different.

Israel accuses Hezbollah, which in turn denies it.