Golan Heights:
Ten people, including children, were killed in a rocket attack on a football field in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday, Israel’s N12 News reported, the worst incident so far in months of violence between Israel and armed groups in Lebanon .
The Israeli military said the rocket was fired by the Lebanese group Hezbollah. The Iran-backed group denied any involvement in the attack, which appeared likely to draw a fierce response from Israel.
The Israeli emergency service said earlier that nine people were seriously injured by a rocket fired from Lebanon that hit a football pitch in the Druze village of Majdal Shams. A doctor described extensive destruction and fire at the site.
“We witnessed massive destruction when we arrived at the football field, as well as items that were on fire. There were casualties on the grass and the scene was horrific,” said Magen David Adom doctor Idan Avshalom.
A witness told Reuters: “He fell on the football field, they are all children… a lot of bodies and remains are on the field, we don’t know who they are.” She asked not to be identified.
The attack on the football field followed an Israeli attack in Lebanon that killed four agents on Saturday. Two security sources in Lebanon said the four fighters killed in the Israeli attack on Kfarkila in southern Lebanon were members of different armed groups, with at least one of them belonging to Hezbollah.
The Israeli military said its aircraft targeted a military structure belonging to Hezbollah, after identifying a militant cell entering the building.
At least 30 rockets were fired from Lebanon across the border, the military said.
“According to an IDF situational assessment and intelligence in our possession, the rocket launch towards Majdal Shams was carried out by the terrorist organization Hezbollah,” the military said.
Hezbollah claimed at least four attacks, including with Katyusha rockets, in retaliation for the Kfarkila attacks. However, Hezbollah’s top media representative, Mohammad Afif, denied responsibility for the attack on Majdal Shams.
In a written statement, the group said that “the Islamic Resistance has absolutely nothing to do with the incident and categorically denies all false allegations in this regard.”
Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire since October, after Hamas’ attack on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza, its worst escalation since 2006.
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