Israel wants to hurt Hezbollah but not drag the Middle East into all-out conflict, two Israeli officials said on Monday, as Lebanon braced for retaliation after a rocket strike that killed 12 children and teenagers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Reuters reports.

Two other Israeli officials said Israel was preparing for the possibility of a few days of fighting following Saturday’s rocket strike at a sports field in a Druze town that it blamed on the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah. Hezbollah has denied any connection with the incident.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said any Israeli attack on Lebanon would have “serious consequences” for Israel, Iranian state media quoted him on Monday as telling French President Emmanuel Macron in a phone call. Pezeshkian did not elaborate.

All four Israeli officials, who included a senior defence official and a diplomatic source, spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity and gave no further information about Israel’s plans for retaliation.

“The estimation is that the response will not lead to an all-out war,” said the diplomatic source. “That would not be in our interest at this point.”

In a statement issued by his office on Monday after he visited Majdal Shams, the site of Saturday’s attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “The state of Israel will not and cannot let this pass. Our response will come and it will be harsh.”