Are twelve children killed on a football field causing the escalation between Hezbollah and Israel? A conversation about recurring doomsday scenarios and a war that is only a matter of time.
Even in war there are rules, and so the Israeli army and the Hezbollah-militia from Lebanon have been largely in agreement since October 2023: whether with rockets, drones or mortar shells – they will fire at military targets. Although tens of thousands have had to flee their homes on both sides of the border, civilian casualties have so far been the absolute exception in this conflict. Until Saturday evening.
In the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, people are used to living between the fronts. In 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israel conquered the area from Syria and then annexed it. But in recent years, things have been looking up in the village. New hotels, a modern football pitch with artificial turf. The Children met to play football. Like almost every day, actually. When the air raid alarm sounded, they had three seconds left before the playing field became a battlefield.
A Hezbollah rocket killed twelve children and injured dozens more. Israeli analysts speculate that the attack – fired from the Lebanese village of Sheeba – may actually have been aimed at an Israeli military base on Mount Hermon.
Whether intentional or not, the Majdal Shams massacre could be the beginning of an escalation in the entire region, fears Middle East expert Guido Steinberg.
Mr Steinberg, journalists have been calling you for months and asking you one question in particular: When will there be a Gazabut war in the entire Middle East? Aren’t these doomsday scenarios starting to get on your nerves?
No. Over the last nine months, the question of whether one event or another would lead to a major escalation has always been justified. I’ve been thinking a lot about it myself.
About what?
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
