Israel strikes Hezbollah after Golan attack; Iran’s supreme leader hints at improving ties with West

Iran’s supreme leader indicated that his country was open to easing diplomatic engagement with the West, hinting at a potentially more conciliatory approach for the country under its new president.

Israel’s parliament adjourned for a three-month recess on Sunday, affording some domestic respite for Netanyahu amid mounting criticism over the war in Gaza, calls for early elections, and a devastating Hezbollah attack in the Golan Heights.

Israel hits Hezbollah after Golan attack but eyes Gaza truce

Israel attacked Hezbollah targets on Sunday and threatened further retaliation for a rocket strike that killed 12 youngsters while signalling openness to a proposed Gaza truce that could also calm the second and more combustible front with Lebanon.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, returning from a US visit in which he sought to drum up support for what he has described as a showdown between Israel and proxies of its arch-foe Iran, held back-to-back consultations with military chiefs and the security Cabinet, his office said.

In the worst single-incident civilian losses for Israel since Hamas-led Palestinians stormed from the Gaza Strip into its southern villages and army bases on 7 October, a rocket exploded in the occupied Golan Heights on Saturday, killing 12 children during a soccer game and wounding 44 others.

Israel blamed Hezbollah for the carnage in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, pointing to a model of rocket used by the Iranian-backed militia and to a launch site in southern Lebanon. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a visit to Japan that there was “every indication” the rocket came from Hezbollah.

Hezbollah denied responsibility.

Some 40,000 people live in the Israeli-occupied Golan. More than half are Druze, an Arab group who practise an offshoot of Islam and who are embraced in Israel. While the Golan Druze have generally not held Israeli citizenship, the Druze in the rest of the country are full citizens who serve in the military and government.

Read more: Deadly air strike in Golan may trigger harsh Israeli payback

Netanyahu has vowed to exact a “heavy price” from Hezbollah, which has been trading fire with Israel across the Lebanese border in solidarity with Hamas, another group sponsored by Iran.

Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, commander of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), was reviewing operational plans for the northern arena, his spokesperson said, in reference to further action in Lebanon and possibly Syria. The IDF said earlier that its warplanes struck several Lebanese targets overnight.

But the door to diplomacy remained open.

David Barnea, the director of Israel’s Mossad spy service and its principal ceasefire negotiator, flew to Rome on Sunday to meet his US counterpart, CIA director William Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, an Israeli official told Bloomberg. The two Arab countries have served as mediators between Israel and Hamas.

Barnea was back within hours to brief Netanyahu, whose office said Israel had relayed “clarifications” about a Gaza truce proposal that has gone back and forth between the warring sides and was made public by US President Joe Biden on 31 May.

“In the coming days, negotiations over the main issues will continue,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.

The talks had stumbled over Hamas’ demand for an end to the Gaza war, which Israel has vowed to continue until Hamas is destroyed. As a first stage of the proposed truce, Israel would recover some of the 115 hostages still held by Hamas and would release Palestinian prisoners in exchange.

Hezbollah has said its attacks on Israel would cease when the Gaza fighting does. The Houthis of Yemen, another Iranian-aligned group that has been carrying out long-range missile and drone launches at Israel, have offered similar terms.

Israel says it can’t compromise with enemies sworn to its destruction and blacklisted as terrorists in the West. But domestic pressure for a hostage recovery is growing, and the IDF, which leans on conscripts and reservists, is fatigued.

Amir Avivi, a reserve brigadier general who heads the Israel Defense and Security Forum, a hawkish association of former security officials, said by phone that while Israel was preparing for an eventual war in Lebanon, it would not start right away.

“Israel is likely to hit Hezbollah military infrastructure right now but is not going to start a full-scale war,” he said. “It would be a big mistake to rush and act without relevant preparation.”

Hezbollah has targeted Israel’s north since the Gaza war began, launching more than 6,000 rockets and 300 drones at military and civilian targets. Israel has retaliated with attacks, mostly on southern Lebanon.

Until Saturday, about 20 people in Israel had been killed by Hezbollah attacks since October, most of them soldiers. More than 300 people have died due to Israeli strikes in Lebanon, the majority being Hezbollah members.

Roughly 80,000 people in northern Israel and about the same number in southern Lebanon have had to evacuate their homes.

Israel launched its war against Hamas after the 7 October attacks in which 1,200 people in southern Israel were killed and 250 taken hostage to Gaza. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says the death toll in Gaza has exceeded 39,000. It doesn’t distinguish between militant and civilian casualties.

Iran’s supreme leader hints at improving ties with West

Iran’s supreme leader indicated that his country was open to easing diplomatic engagement with the West, hinting at a potentially more conciliatory approach for the country under its new president.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran had been “treated badly in recent years” by Western states, particularly through sanctions that stifled its economy and oil exports. However, Tehran could reconsider its diplomatic priorities with the West “if they change their ill conduct”, he said in a televised address on Sunday, without elaborating.

Iran has consistently criticised the European signatories of a 2015 nuclear deal — namely the UK, France and Germany — for failing to meet their commitments to revive the agreement after it was abandoned in 2018 by then US President Donald Trump.

The Iranian leader on Sunday formally confirmed Masoud Pezeshkian as Iran’s new president. The endorsement on Sunday is considered a legal formality but marks the beginning of Pezeshkian’s term in office.

In a runoff vote this month, Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old veteran reformist and long-time legislator, defeated hard-line diplomat Saeed Jalili who is known for his aversion to relations with the West.

Read more: What election of Iran reformist means for the region: QuickTake

Pezeshkian on Sunday reiterated his commitment to pursuing “constructive and effective” external diplomacy. He emphasised the need to unify the nation’s deeply fragmented political landscape, and added that “we can overcome obstacles only through convergence and adherence to the law”.

His confirmation came amid a fresh bout of tension between Iran and Israel. Netanyahu last week warned of the threat posed by Iran and its proxy groups, including Hezbollah. He accused the militant group of the deadly rocket strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday and vowed to retaliate.

In response, Iran’s foreign ministry issued a statement on Sunday, cautioning Israel against “any new adventure” targeting the Beirut-based militant group. The ministry warned that any Israeli aggression could trigger “unforeseen consequences”.

In his first move as president, Pezeshkian appointed Mohammad Reza Aref, a reformist politician, as his first vice-president, Iran’s state TV reported. Aref had previously held the same position for four years under former reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

Israeli Parliament’s summer break takes heat off Netanyahu

Israel’s Parliament adjourned for a three-month recess on Sunday, affording some domestic respite for Netanyahu amid mounting criticism over the war in Gaza, calls for early elections, and a devastating Hezbollah attack that killed a dozen youngsters in the Golan Heights.

Leaders the world over are demanding a ceasefire that would see the militant group Hamas free some hostages seized in its 7 October attack on southern Israel in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.  Netanyahu’s presence and the high civilian death toll from the Gaza war, now into its 10th month.

Biden, his vice-president Kamala Harris, and predecessor and Republican nominee Donald Trump met separately with Netanyahu and called for a swift end to the fighting.

Within Israel, there’s been sustained and growing public pressure for Netanyahu to take the fall for failing to secure the release of about 115 hostages still held by Hamas, 41 of whom have been declared dead in absentia.

A poll published this month by Israel’s Channel 12 television station showed 44% of 500 respondents wanted Netanyahu to resign immediately, while 22% said he should quit when the war with Hamas is over. The next elections are scheduled for late 2026.

Organising an early vote would take at least three months, meaning Netanyahu should be able to retain power until at least February — if he sees through the parliamentary break, which ends on 27 October. DM

Read more: Middle East Crisis news hub