Hezbollah’s attack on the Druze hamlet of Majdal Shams is especially appalling, even for the terrorist group whose name translates to “Party of God.” A heavy rocket rained down on a soccer field, and early reports are that at least 11 were killed and many more injured. The seriousness of the assault is underscored by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s intent to hurry back from America. A wider war between Jerusalem and Hezbollah could be in the offing. 

A Hezbollah spokesman is quoted by the AP as saying that the group “categorically denies carrying out an attack on Majdal Shams.” Earlier they claimed targeting a nearby military base, though. Israel asserts that “Hezbollah is lying” and holds Hezbollah responsible. The Jewish state embraces the Druze community, many of whom fight valiantly in the Israel Defense Forces. One hero, Ashraf al Bahir, accompanied Mr. Netanyahu to Congress.

The Druze are a people of varied allegiances. It is true that the denizens of Majdal Shams have declined to take Israeli citizenship, and do not serve in the IDF, as do many of their brethren. Their citizenship is technically Syrian, even as the soil they live on is Israel. The attack on their town underscores that Hezbollah’s violence is indiscriminate. Like Hamas, they think nothing of the lives lost to their hatred of Israel.  

The connection between Jewish soldiers and those Druze soldiers who serve is referred to as a brit damim, or “a covenant of blood.” The Druze in Israel’s north, like their Jewish neighbors, have for months — years, really — lived under the threatening rain of Hezbollah’s attacks. More than 60,000 Israelis adjacent to the border with Lebanon are displaced. While Israel has struck back at Hezbollah, neutralizing the threat will require greater force.

Signs of Israel’s solidarity with the Druze surfaced quickly on Saturday. Tel Aviv’s City Hall was lit up in the red, yellow, blue, purple, and green of the Druze flag. Mr. Netanyahu spoke with the Druze spiritual leader, Sheikh Mwafak Tarif, to convey condolences and promise that a “heavy price” will be exacted. Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, has been presented with options in respect of a response. 

Israel’s embrace of the Druze — and vice versa —  brings into focus the logic of President Trump’s ratification of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which it liberated from Syria in the Six Day War and annexed in 1981. The owner of a hummus joint at Majdal Shams, Madad al-Shaer, tells the Times that “No one is protected. It doesn’t matter if you’re living in a Druse or Jewish village.” Lebanon issued a mealy-mouthed condemnation.       

Hezbollah may have fired the rocket with which it slew the children at play, but it is Iran who is ultimately responsible for the group’s ability to attack Israel, just as it is the ayatollahs who were responsible for Hamas’s atrocities on October 7. The New Yorker reports that a Hezbollah field commander told its correspondent that “the Iranians want us to escalate, so we are escalating …  the Iranians control every bullet we have.” 

The attack on Majdal Shams throws into sharp relief the error of the Biden administration’s headlong hunt for a ceasefire, which would amount to a reprieve for Hamas and Hezbollah. An American official tells Axios that “What happened today could be the trigger we have been worried about and tried to avoid for 10 months.” A better worry would have been how to help Israel achieve victory over its foes. 

The White House calls the attack “horrific” but more telling will be whether it backs Israel’s response. If the past is prelude, President Biden — and Vice President Harris — will seek to restrain the IDF in favor of Hezbollah. Ms. Harris’s harsh words for Israel last week suggest that she has little enough appetite for one conflict, let alone two. Mr. Biden has sought to suppress a war, but Hezbollah has been emboldened. That is often the price of appeasement.