US urges calm after deadly Golan Heights attack; Israel’s army raids jail after abuse allegations

Israel’s military police said it raided a prison holding detainees from the Gaza war following allegations an inmate was subject to “serious abuse,” a move criticised by some members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition.

Germany called on its citizens in Lebanon to urgently leave the country as tensions grew after Israel blamed Hezbollah for an attack that killed several children in the Golan Heights. 

Israel weighs its response to deadly Golan Heights rocket attack as US urges calm

The US and other world powers sought to prevent Israel and Hezbollah’s conflict from turning into a full-blown war after a rocket attack that killed a dozen young people in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met security officials for several hours late on Sunday to decide on the type and timing of Israel’s response to Saturday’s strike, which killed 12 Druze civilians at a soccer field and risked triggering the all-out conflict with Hezbollah that’s been feared for months.

“We were shocked to the core by this terrible carnage,” Netanyahu said on Monday while visiting the site of the attack, the town of Majdal Shams. “The State of Israel won’t and can’t let this go by. Our response will yet come, and it will be harsh.”

Yet while other Israeli officials also said the military would react forcefully, it didn’t launch major strikes on Lebanon overnight and there were signs Netanyahu wanted to allow talks for a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza to progress.

Several Israeli news outlets reported the government was seeking a “limited but significant” action that sends a strong message to Hezbollah but ensures the situation doesn’t 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.

Israel says it has clear evidence the rocket that hit Majdal Shams was fired by Hezbollah, something the group denies. The US backed Israel, saying the Shiite group was probably responsible, while also urging calm.

There was “no justification for terrorism”, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “We also don’t want to see the conflict escalate.”

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said he “strongly condemns this bloodbath” and called on “all parties to exercise utmost restraint and avoid further escalation”.

Several airlines have suspended flights to Lebanon’s main international airport in Beirut. Lufthansa, along with its subsidiaries Swiss International and Eurowings, will halt services until 6 August, while Greece’s Aegean Airlines has cancelled some flights. Germany called on its citizens in Lebanon to leave quickly.

Netanyahu 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. The prime minister said, “Negotiations on the main issues will continue in the coming days.”

Hamas issued a statement on Monday accusing Netanyahu of stalling and setting new conditions that were “a step back” from what mediators had previously presented to it.

The talks have stumbled in recent weeks over Hamas’ demand that the war in Gaza ends once there’s a truce. Israel says that if Hamas doesn’t surrender, it wants to be able to resume fighting to ensure the Iran-backed group is destroyed.

Israel and Hezbollah, a militant group and political party also supported by Tehran, have exchanged fire almost every day since the war with Hamas erupted in October. Those skirmishes had mostly targeted military sites. Saturday’s strike was by far the deadliest on civilians south of the Lebanese border.

Netanyahu returned from a US visit on Sunday in which he sought to drum up support for what he describes as a showdown between Israel and Iran, including its proxies such as Hezbollah and Hamas.

Israel and Iran exchanged direct fire in April. Netanyahu’s government responded to an unprecedented attack from Tehran — almost all of whose missiles and drones were intercepted and didn’t cause significant damage — with a limited airstrike on an Iranian air base. That followed efforts by the Group of Seven to restrain Israel’s response and prevent a regional war.

Hezbollah says it’s acting in solidarity with Hamas and Palestinians and will stop firing on Israel if there’s a ceasefire in Gaza. Yet it hasn’t said it will move fighters back from the Lebanon-Israel border, which Netanyahu’s government is demanding because it fears a 7 October-style incursion from the group.

Israel says it can’t compromise with enemies sworn to its destruction. But domestic pressure for the recovery of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza is growing, while the Israel Defense Forces, which leans heavily on conscripts and reservists, is stretched after almost 10 months of fighting in the Palestinian territory.

“There must be a retaliation,” said Amos Yadlin, a retired air force general and former chief of military intelligence. “But that doesn’t mean it has to take place when anticipated. There’s nothing wrong with keeping Hezbollah in a state of alert for days or even weeks.”

Hamas killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage when it swarmed into southern Israel from Gaza on 7 October. More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its retaliation, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

Some 40,000 people live in the Israeli-occupied Golan. More than half are Druze, an Arab group who practise an offshoot of Islam.

The Golan Heights were part of Syria until 1967, when Israel captured most of the area in the Six-Day War. Israel’s annexation in the 1980s was not recognised by most countries, and Syria demands the return of the territory. The US recognised Israeli sovereignty under Donald Trump’s administration in 2019.

Israel army raids jail after abuse claims

Israel’s military police said it raided a prison holding detainees from the Gaza war following allegations an inmate was subject to “serious abuse,” a move criticised by some members of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition.

Local TV stations showed images of soldiers being arrested on Monday at Sde Teiman, a desert base in southern Israel holding suspected Hamas fighters who carried out the 7 October attacks.

The jail, where Palestinians captured during the nearly 10-month military campaign in Gaza are also held, has been the subject of Supreme Court challenges by human rights watchdogs alleging intolerable conditions. Those claims have failed to attract much sympathy in Israel, where outrage over the 7 October atrocities remains high.

Local media reported that several army reservists deployed as wardens at Sde Teiman were arrested. TV showed what appeared to be military policemen, some wearing masks to conceal their faces, leading away a soldier.

The Israel Defense Forces said Israeli civilians tried to break into Sde Teiman in an apparent protest against the arrests. Their actions are “extremely serious and against the law,” said Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.

The military didn’t immediately confirm any arrests, saying only that its judge advocate-general had ordered an investigation into the suspected abuse of a detainee.

“Take your hands off the reservists!” Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right minister for national security, said on X, as several members of his faction pledged to drive to Sde Teiman to prevent arrests. Ben Gvir, the head of the nationalist Jewish Power party, is part of Netanyahu’s coalition that allows him to hold a ruling majority.

Yuli Edelstein, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party and head of parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said he would summon the judge advocate-general and military police chief for a hearing before the forum.

“Our soldiers are not criminals,” said Edelstein.

Germany urges its citizens to leave Lebanon after Golan strike

Germany called on its citizens in Lebanon to urgently leave the country as tensions grew after Israel blamed Hezbollah for an attack that killed several children in the Golan Heights.

“We are deeply concerned about the situation of Germans in Lebanon,” said Sebastian Fischer, the spokesperson of Germany’s foreign ministry, in Berlin on Monday. “We urge these German citizens to leave Lebanon as long as there’s still time.”

He cited the “extremely difficult logistical situation” for an evacuation, which might become necessary in case of a larger regional conflict. The government estimates that about 1,300 Germans are in Lebanon.

Turkey’s Erdoğan escalates anti-Israel rhetoric with threat of intervention

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is escalating his rhetoric against Israel, suggesting Turkey could intervene on behalf of Palestinians, possibly with military support, in ways similar to what it has done in other conflicts.

“We must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these things to Palestine,” Erdogan said in his hometown of Rize on Sunday. “Just as we entered Karabakh and Libya, we might do the same here. There is nothing we cannot do. We must be very strong.”

Erdoğan spoke vaguely and made no indication that he was considering any direct military operations in the Israel-Gaza war. Still, his remarks underscore the growing hostility with Israel and could cause volatility in Turkey’s financial markets this week.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded to Erdoğan’s comments in a post on X.

“Erdoğan follows in the footsteps of Saddam Hussein and threatens to attack Israel. Just let him remember what happened there and how it ended,” he wrote.

Turkey intervened in the Libyan civil war to support the United Nations-recognised government and supported Azerbaijan against Armenia by supplying arms and conducting joint military drills during the Nagorno-Karabakh war. It also has troops in other areas it considers in its interests, including Iraq and Syria.

In the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, Erdoğan has recalled Turkey’s ambassador, suspended trade with Israel, and accused Netanyahu of committing genocide.

Turkey has also been sending humanitarian aid to Gaza and facilitating medical treatment for those injured in the conflict by allowing them to receive care in Turkey. Before the war, Turkey and Israel had been working to normalise their relations after a decade of tensions. DM 

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