TEL AVIV, Israel: A rocket attack on a soccer stadium on Saturday killed at least 11 children and teenagers, Israeli officials said, in the deadliest attack on Israeli targets on the country's northern border since fighting between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group began. The attack raised fears of a wider war in the region.
Israel has blamed Hezbollah for the attack on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, but Hezbollah has quickly denied any involvement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that Hezbollah “will pay a very high price for this attack, the likes of which it has never paid before.”
Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant General Daniel Hagari said the incident was the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians since the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked a war in the Gaza Strip, and that 20 people were wounded.
“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 are approaching the moment where we are facing a full-scale war.”
Hezbollah spokesman Mohammad Afif told The Associated Press that the group “categorically denies any attack on Majdal Shams,” adding that it is typical for Hezbollah to deny such attacks.
The attack on the soccer stadium shortly before sunset came after cross-border violence on Saturday, with Hezbollah saying three of its fighters were killed without specifying where they died. The Israeli military said its air force hit a Hezbollah arms depot in the border village of Kfar Gila, adding that the militants were in the area at the time.
Hezbollah said its fighters had hit Israeli bases 10 times with rockets and drone bombs, with the last attack being a Katyusha rocket attack on the Haramoun base in Maleh Golani. In a separate statement, Hezbollah said it had hit the same base with short-range Falak rockets, saying the strikes were in retaliation for Israeli airstrikes on villages in southern Lebanon.
Netanyahu's office, which is visiting the United States, said he would shorten the trip by several hours, without specifying when he would return. The office said he would convene a security cabinet meeting after his arrival.
Far-right members of Netanyahu's government have called for a strong response to Hezbollah, but if the Israeli military were to face a full-scale war against a militant group with superior firepower to Hamas, it would be in dire straits after nearly 10 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip.
Footage aired on Israel's Channel 12 showed a massive explosion in a valley in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, in the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981. Some of the Druze are Israeli citizens. Many still sympathize with Syria and reject Israeli annexation, but their ties to Israeli society have grown over the years.
The video shows emergency medical workers rushing a stretcher from the soccer field to a waiting ambulance.
Villager Hail Mahmoud told Channel 12 the children were playing soccer when the rocket hit the field. He said he heard sirens seconds before the rocket hit but didn't have time to take cover.
Jihan Sfadi, the principal of a primary school, told Channel 12 that five students had died. “The situation here is very difficult. Parents are crying and people are screaming outside. No one can understand what is happening.”
The Israeli military said its analysis showed the rocket was fired from an area north of the village of Sheba in southern Lebanon.
The White House National Security Council said in a statement that the United States will continue to support efforts to end these horrific attacks along the Blue Line, and that this must be a top priority. Our support for Israel's security is unwavering and unwavering against all Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Lebanon's Hezbollah.
The Lebanese government issued a statement that did not mention Majdal Sham, calling for an “immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts” and condemning all attacks on civilians.
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire since Oct. 8, a day after the Hamas terrorist group invaded southern Israel. In recent weeks, exchanges of fire along the Lebanese-Israeli border have intensified, with Israeli airstrikes and Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks reaching farther and farther from the border.
The Israeli military said Majdal Shams was not among the border communities ordered to evacuate due to rising tensions. The town is not located directly on the border with Lebanon.
Officials from countries including the United States and France have visited Lebanon to try to defuse tensions, but have been unsuccessful. Hezbollah has refused to cease fire as long as Israel continues its offensive against the Gaza Strip. Israel and Hezbollah fought endlessly in 2006.
Saturday's violence came as Israel and Hamas were considering a ceasefire proposal to end the nearly 10-month war in the Gaza Strip and release about 110 hostages still held there. Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 killed about 1,200 people and took another 250 hostages. Israeli attacks have killed more than 39,000 people, according to local health officials.
Since early October, Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed more than 450 people, most of them members of the militant group Hezbollah, as well as about 90 civilians and non-combatants. On the Israeli side, 44 people have been killed, including at least 21 soldiers.
