Hezbollah rejects calls to avoid answering anticipated Israeli attack

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BEIRUT (Reuters) – Hezbollah has rejected calls from international envoys to avoid responding to an anticipated Israeli attack in retaliation for a deadly rocket strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, an official from the Lebanese group said on Tuesday.

Hezbollah, which has denied involvement in Saturday’s strike, informed mediators it would still respond to any Israeli attack, the official said in written comments sent to reporters.

The official did not say which countries the mediators represented.

A diplomatic dash led by the United States has aimed to constrain Israel’s response to the Golan attack, which left 12 youths dead. Israel and the U.S. have blamed Iranian-backed Hezbollah for the strike, with Israel vowing a strong response.

Diplomats have urged Israel against targeting the Lebanese capital Beirut, its southern suburbs that form Hezbollah’s heartland, or key infrastructure, five people with knowledge of the drive told Reuters. They hope that by keeping Israel’s response limited, forceful retaliation by Hezbollah can be avoided.

“International envoys are indirectly raising with us the idea that we should not respond to the expected aggression under the pretext of the need to avoid escalation and sliding towards a comprehensive war,” the Hezbollah official said.

Hezbollah had “informed them of our explicit rejection of this request” and would respond, the official said.

The group took Israel’s threats seriously and was prepared, but did not expect a ground invasion, the official said.

Hezbollah also said mediators had informed them of diplomatic efforts to urge Israel to spare civilians and civilian facilities in any operation. “This is a good thing, but we do not trust our enemy,” the official added.

(Reporting by Maya Gebeily; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)