TEL AVIV, Israel: A rocket strike on a soccer field on Saturday killed at least 11 children and teenagers, Israeli authorities said, in the deadliest strike on an Israeli target along the country's northern border since fighting began between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. . It sparked fears of a wider regional war.
Israel blamed Hezbollah for the strike in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, but Hezbollah was quick to deny any role. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Hezbollah “will pay a heavy price for this attack, one that it has not paid so far.”
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari called it the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack 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 response will reflect that,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Israel's Channel 12. “We're approaching the point where we're facing all-out war.”
Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif told The Associated Press that the group “categorically denies having carried out an attack on Majdal Shams.” It is unusual for Hezbollah to deny an attack.
The strike at the soccer field, just before sunset, followed earlier cross-border violence on Saturday, when Hezbollah said three of its fighters had been killed, without specifying where. The Israeli military said its air force targeted a Hezbollah weapons depot in the border village of Kfar Kila, adding that the militants were at the time.
Hezbollah said its fighters carried out 10 different attacks using rockets and explosive drones against Israeli military posts, the latest of which targeted the Haramoun Brigade army headquarters in Maaleh Golani with Katyusha missiles. In a separate statement, Hezbollah said it hit the same army post with a short-range Falaq missile. It said the attacks were in response to Israeli airstrikes on villages in southern Lebanon.
The office of Netanyahu, who was on a visit to the United States, said he would cut his trip short by a few hours, without specifying when he would return. It was said that he would convene the Security Cabinet upon arrival.
Far-right members of Netanyahu's government have called for a tough response against Hezbollah. But an all-out war with a militant group with far superior firepower to Hamas would be trying for the Israeli military after nearly 10 months of fighting in Gaza.
Footage broadcast on Israel's Channel 12 showed a powerful explosion in one of the valleys in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981. Some Druze have Israeli citizenship. Many still have sympathies for Syria and have rejected Israeli annexation, but their ties to Israeli society have grown over the years.
The video showed paramedics rushing on stretchers from the football pitch to waiting ambulances.
Ha'il Mahmoud, a resident, told Channel 12 that the 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 are crying, people are screaming outside. Nobody can digest what happened.”
The Israeli military said its analysis showed the rocket was fired from an area north of the village of Chebaa in southern Lebanon.
The White House National Security Council said in a statement that the US “will continue to support efforts to end these terrible attacks along the Blue Line, which must be a top priority. Our support for Israel's security is firm and unwavering against all Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including the Lebanese Hezbollah.”
The Lebanese government, in a statement that did not mention Majdal Sham, called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts” and condemned all attacks on civilians.
Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire since October 8, a day after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel. In recent weeks, firefights along the Lebanon-Israel border have intensified, with Israeli airstrikes and rocket and drone attacks by Hezbollah striking deeper and farther from the border.
Majdal Shams was not among the border communities ordered to evacuate as tensions rose, the Israeli military said, without saying why. The city is not directly on the border with Lebanon.
Officials from countries such as the United States and France have visited Lebanon to try to ease tensions, but have failed to make progress. Hezbollah has refused to stop firing as long as Israel's offensive in Gaza continues. Israel and Hezbollah fought an inconclusive war in 2006.
Saturday's violence comes as Israel and Hamas weigh a proposed cease-fire that would end the nearly 10-month war in Gaza and free the roughly 110 hostages who remain captive there. The October 7 Hamas attack killed around 1,200 people and took another 250 hostages. Israel's offensive has 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 Hezbollah members, but also about 90 civilians and non-combatants. On the Israeli side, 44 were killed, including at least 21 soldiers.
