What Israel might do next after Golan Heights attack

Hello. Western governments are urging Israel to show restraint in its response after a rocket attack blamed on Hezbollah struck a Druze village in the Golan Heights, killing 12 children and young people. Jeremy Bowen explains how this moment could mark a turning point in the months-long border confrontations. From Venezuela, Ione Wells recalls what she witnessed outside polling stations on the day of the disputed election. We're also featuring stories on infant malnutrition in Nigeria, sustainable tourism in Italy and, finally, Olympic sports in space.

QUESTIONS ANSWERED

The risks of an all-out war with Hezbollah

Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in a border war for months. Credit: Getty Images

A deadly rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights marks another possibly incendiary moment in the confrontations between Hezbollah - a Lebanon-based, Iran-backed militia and political movement - and Israel. The cross-border exchanges of fire started in October, following Hamas's deadly attacks in southern Israel.

How could Israel retaliate without sparking an all-out war?

Action against Hezbollah in the largely depopulated areas of south Lebanon might avoid escalation. Killing Lebanese civilians in Beirut or destroying infrastructure like bridges or power stations would not.

What would it mean to engage in an all-out war against Hezbollah?

Hezbollah is a much more formidable enemy of Israel than Hamas. It is more powerful than the fragile Lebanese state and operates without consulting it. Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah is close to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Hezbollah fighters are disciplined and well trained, and Iran has supplied them with a formidable arsenal of missiles that can hit Israel’s cities.

What is being done to prevent an escalation?

Israel is under heavy pressure from its allies, including the US - without which it cannot sustain its war effort - not to take action that would escalate the war into an all-out fight. The Americans and the French have tried to negotiate a way of de-escalating the Israel-Hezbollah border war. The absence of a ceasefire in Gaza blights their chances of success.

THE BIG PICTURE

Farmers struggling to feed their families

Seven-month-old orphan Ummi is being treated at a malnutrition clinic run by an international aid group. Credit: BBC

In Nigeria's northern Katsina state, the number of acutely malnourished children under the age of five has more than doubled to 4.4 million in the past year, according to the World Food Programme. Many of those struggling are families that have lost their lands to bandits.

And finally... in space

Astronauts have been getting into the Olympic spirit, staging a zero-gravity tribute to the Paris Games. In a video message wishing the athletes well, they showed off (weightless) weightlifting, some impressive gymnastic moves and a version of the discus that looked, frankly, hazardous for the interior of the International Space Station.