TEL AVIV, Israel: A rocket attack on Saturday at a soccer stadium killed at least 11 children, Israeli officials said, in the deadliest strike on an Israeli target on the northern border of the country since the start of the war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. . This raised fears of a wider regional conflict.
Israel blamed Hezbollah for the strike in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, but Hezbollah quickly denied any responsibility. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that “Hezbollah will pay a heavy price for this attack, which it has not paid so far.”
The chief spokesman of the Israeli army, Adm. Daniel Hagari, called it the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians since the October 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the Gaza war. He said 20 others were injured.
“There is no doubt that Hezbollah has crossed all the red lines here, and the results will show that,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Israel's Channel 12.
Hezbollah's chief spokesman Mohammed Afif told The Associated Press that the group “absolutely rejects the attack on Majdal Shams.” It is strange for Hezbollah to deny an attack.
The strike at the football stadium, shortly before sunset, followed earlier cross-border violence on Saturday, when Hezbollah said three of its fighters had been killed, but did not specify where Israel's military said the air force targeted a Hezbollah bunker in the village of Kfar Kila, adding that the militants were inside at the time.
Hezbollah said its fighters had carried out 10 separate attacks using rockets and explosive drones on Israeli military bases, the latest of which targeted the commander of the Haramoun Brigade in Maaleh Golani with the Katyusha missile. In a separate statement, Hezbollah said it hit the army base with a Falaq short-range missile. It said the attacks were in response to Israeli airstrikes on towns in southern Lebanon.
The office of Netanyahu, who is visiting the United States, said he would cut his trip short by several hours, but did not say when he would return. It says that he will assemble the security cabinet when he arrives.
Far-right members of Netanyahu's government have called for a tough response against Hezbollah. But an all-out war with a militant group far more powerful than Hamas will prove difficult for Israel's military after nearly 10 months of fighting in Gaza.
It showed a large explosion in one of the valleys in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the Middle East war in In 1967, some Druze were granted Israeli citizenship. Many still sympathize with Syria and reject the annexation of Israel, but have developed ties to Israeli society over the years.
The video showed paramedics rushing from the football field to the ambulance.
Ha'il Mahmoud, a resident, told Channel 12 that children were playing soccer when the rocket hit the field. He said a siren was heard seconds before the missile hit, but there was no time to take cover.
Jihan Sfadi, the principal of a primary school, told Channel 12 that five students were among the dead: “The situation here is very difficult. Parents crying, people screaming outside. No one can digest what happened.
Israel's military said its investigation showed the rocket was fired from the northern part of the southern Lebanese town of Chebaa.
The White House's National Security Council said the United States “will continue to support efforts to stop these horrific attacks on the Blue Line, which must be a priority. Our support for Israel's security is steel and unwavering against all Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including the Lebanese Hezbollah.”
Lebanon's government, in a statement that did not name Majdal Sham, called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities on all sides” and condemned all attacks on civilians.
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire since October 8, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel. In recent weeks, fighting has intensified along the Lebanon-Israel border, with Israeli airstrikes and rocket and drone attacks by Hezbollah far from the border.
Majdal Shams was not among the border communities ordered to flee as tensions escalated, Israel's military said, without saying why. The city does not sit directly on the border of Lebanon.
Officials from countries including the United States and France have visited Lebanon to ease tensions but to no avail. Hezbollah has refused to cease fire as Israel's offensive in Gaza continues. Israel and Hezbollah fought an endless war in 2006.
The violence came on Saturday as they weighed a proposed ceasefire that would end the nearly 10-month conflict in Gaza and free about 110 hostages held by Israel and Hamas. The October 7 attack by Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took another 250 hostages. Israel's attacks have killed more than 39,000 people, according to local health authorities.
Since early October, Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed more than 450 people, mostly members of Hezbollah, but also about 90 civilians and non-combatants. On the Israeli side, 44 were killed, at least 21 were soldiers.
