PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu was given the green light today to retaliate to the deadly rocket strike that hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday evening.

An emergency meeting of the security cabinet said that Mr Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant could decide when and how to retaliate for the incident, which killed 12 children and teenagers from the Druze community in Majdal Shams.

The explosion has been blamed on Hezbollah, but the Lebanese Shi’ite movement has strongly denied any responsibility for the attack, which hit Syrian land occupied by the Israelis since 1967.