At least nine people have been killed and dozens injured after an attack which hit a football pitch in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Israeli media report.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a rocket fell on the Majdal Shams area of the territory.
Most of the casualties are believed to be children and teenagers.
The IDF blamed Hezbollah for the attack but Hezbollah spokesman Mohamad Afif denied “any relation to the Majdal Shams incident".
Ten people, including children, were killed in a rocket attack on a football ground in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday, Israel’s N12 News reported, the worst incident yet in months of violence between Israel and armed groups in Lebanon.
ReplyDeleteThe Israeli military said the rocket was fired by Lebanese group Hezbollah. The Iran-backed group denied any involvement in the attack, which looked likely to draw a fierce response from Israel.
The Israeli emergency service said earlier that nine people were critically wounded by a rocket fired from Lebanon that hit a village football pitch in the Druze village of Majdal Shams. A medic described great destruction and fire at the scene.
Israel holds Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah responsible for the recent attack on the Majdal Shams town in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Dmitri Gendelman, an advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Saturday.
ReplyDeleteEarlier in the day, Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service said 11 people had been injured in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights as a result of shelling from Lebanon.
Israel intends to "take stern measures" in response, the politician added.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces said following a situational assessment that the rocket launch towards the Golan Heights was "carried out by the Hezbollah terrorist organization."
Hezbollah has already denied involvement in this shelling, a senior Hezbollah source told Sputnik.
The death toll from a rocket hitting the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights rose to 11, Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Daniel Hagari said.
ReplyDeleteEarlier reports put the casualties at nine dead and 30 wounded. Israeli health officials said a rocket landed on a soccer field full of children and teenagers.
The IDF said its intelligence indicated Hezbollah fired the rocket from Lebanon. Hezbollah denied any involvement.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Israel was approaching an all-out war against Hezbollah and Lebanon after a rocket attack on a football ground in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights killed eleven people on Saturday, Axios reported.
ReplyDelete“The Hezbollah attack today crossed all red lines, and the response will be accordingly. We are approaching the moment of an all-out war against Hezbollah and Lebanon,” Katz told Axios.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said that Hezbollah will pay a heavy price.
ReplyDelete“Hezbollah will pay a heavy price, the kind it has thus far not paid,” Netanyahu told the leader of the Druze community in Israel in a phone call, according to a statement from his office.
The Iran-backed Lebanese group has denied any role in the attack.
Militia of the Shiite party Hezbollah did not target the village of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights, where 12 children from the local Druze mountaineer community were killed on Saturday, Al Jazeera said, adding that Hezbollah’s leadership notified the UN Interim Force in Lebanon command (UNIFIL).
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