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.

Hezbollah says the bloodshed was caused by a failed Israeli interceptor missile.

But Israel appears to be using the attack to rally domestic and international support for a major strike on Lebanon.

On Israel’s official X page, an image of the Israeli and Druze flags was posted with the caption: “We are all Druze.”

Another post read: “They take babies hostage. They shoot rockets at homes. Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis. They are all Iran.”

Western governments led by the United States have continued to urge Israel to show restraint.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Israel had every right to respond to Hezbollah, which Washington too blames for the rocket strike, but he emphasised that no-one “wants a broader war.”

The White House National Security Council said it was speaking to its Israeli and Lebanese counterparts and working on a diplomatic solution to “end all attacks once and for all” in the border area.

Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to US President Joe Biden who frequently handles delicate negotiations in Lebanon, has been making a flurry of calls trying to contain the situation, a Lebanese diplomat said.