Israel’s security cabinet has authorized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to determine the scope of a potential military operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

During the meeting on Sunday evening, the cabinet agreed to let Netanyahu and Gallant “decide on the manner and timing of the response” to Hezbollah’s cross-border attacks. 

Tensions flared up on Saturday after a rocket hit a football pitch in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, killing 12 children.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) blamed Hezbollah for the strike and later showed photos of shrapnel that it said matched an Iranian-made Falaq-1 rocket, which is used by the pro-Palestinian militant group. According to the IDF, the rocket was launched from the Chebaa area in southern Lebanon.  Hezbollah, however, denied any involvement in the strike on Majdal Shams. The group has been firing rockets and mortar shells at Israeli positions after the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7.

The IDF carried out further airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Sunday. However, there is an expectation of a stronger response from Israel, including a potential ground invasion, given the warnings made by leading politicians over the weekend, with Foreign Minister Israel Katz saying that Hezbollah has “crossed all red lines.”

Iran has warned that Israel would face an “obliterating war” in case of a “full-scale military aggression” against Lebanon. The US, meanwhile, has backed Israel and condemned Hezbollah. Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said through her national security adviser that her “support for Israel is ironclad.”

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