Ten people, including children, were killed in a rocket attack on a soccer field in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday, Israel’s N12 News reported, in the worst incident yet 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 is likely to trigger a sharp response from Israel.
The Israeli emergency service earlier said nine people were seriously injured by a rocket fired from Lebanon that landed on a soccer pitch in the Druze village of Majdal Shams. A doctor described massive destruction and fire at the scene.
“When we arrived at the football field we saw huge devastation, with things on fire. There were casualties on the grass and the scene was horrific,” said Idan Avshalom, a physician at Magen David Adom.
One witness told Reuters: “It fell on a football field, all are children… there are many bodies and remains on the field, we don’t know who they are.” He asked not to be named.
The attack on the football field came after an Israeli strike in Lebanon on Saturday killed four militants. Two security sources in Lebanon said the four fighters killed in the Israeli attack in Kafarkila in southern Lebanon were members of different armed groups, at least one of which was linked to Hezbollah.
The Israeli military said its aircraft targeted a military structure belonging to Hezbollah after identifying a terrorist group entering the building.
The army said at least 30 rockets were then fired from across the border into Lebanon.
“According to the IDF’s situational assessment and the intelligence we have, the rocket attack towards Majdal Shams was carried out by the Hezbollah terrorist organization,” the army said.
Hezbollah claimed at least four attacks in response to the Kafarkila attacks, including Katyusha rockets. However Hezbollah’s senior media representative Mohammad Afif denied responsibility for the attack on Majdal Shams.
In a written statement, the group said that “the Islamic Resistance has nothing to do with this incident, and it categorically denies all false accusations in this regard.”
Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging gunfire since October, when a Hamas attack on southern Israel triggered the Gaza war, the worst since 2006.