At least 10 persons have been killed after rocket struck a football pitch in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, officials said, terming this to be one of the deadliest attack since the start of fighting with Hezbollah.
The Israel Defence Forces said that the rocket hit a soccer field in Majdal Shams, causing multiple casualties, including children.
The rocket attack came hours after an Israeli airstrike on south Lebanon killed three members of the militant Hezbollah group.
"According to an IDF situational assessment and the intelligence in our possession, the rocket launch toward Majdal Shams was carried out by the Hezbollah terrorist organization," the IDF said.
Local Israeli media said that a helicopter carrying the injured persons landed on the helipad of the Rambam Hospital in Haifa.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese militant group -- Hezbollah -- denied any connection with the rocket attack. The terror group's spokesman Mohamad Afif denied "any relation to the Majdal Shams incident" and said that all the allegations are "false".
However, IDF chief spokesman Rear Adm Daniel Hagari asserted that "Hezbollah is lying".
Israeli paramedic services, Magen David Adom, had initially reported 11 people wounded, nine critically, and all between the ages of 10 and 20.
The Israeli military said one projectile was identified crossing from Lebanon toward the area, adding it was cooperating with the MDA to evacuate the wounded.
The Iran-backed group, in a statement, said that its militants firing Katyusha rockets at an Israeli army post in the Golan Heights was in response to Israeli airstrikes on villages in south Lebanon.
The group said earlier three of its members were killed on Saturday without specifying where. Israel's military said its air force targeted a Hezbollah arms depot on the border village of Kfar Kila, adding that militants were inside at the time.
Notably, the strike on the soccer field increases the fear of an all-out war between the two sides, who have been exchanging fires since the start of the war in Gaza last year.
Tensions began raging between the two sides since Hamas launched an unprecented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The Iran-backed group had also started launching rockets on Israel a day after, introducing new weapons in their attacks, while the latter began striking deeper into Lebanon.
Earlier this month, a top Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon near the coastal city of Tyre.
The commander, identified as Mohammad Naameh Nassser -- whose nom de guerre was "Abu Namameh" -- was the leader of the militant group's Aziz unit, which is one of the three regional divisions in southern Lebanon.
He was the senior most official of the Iran-backed group since the death of Taleb Sami Abdullah in an airstrike in June. Abdullah -- leading the Nasr Unit -- had played a key role on the front line since clashes began on October 8, said Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Hezbollah has repeatedly asserted that it will stop its attacks once there is a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, adding that it will continue its strikes until then to build pressure on Israel and the international community.
Sheikh Naim Kassem, deputy leader of the militant group, had told the Associated Press, "If there is a cease-fire in Gaza, we will stop without any discussions."
Kassem had said that Hezbollah's participation in Israel's war on Gaza has been as a "support front" for its ally, Hamas, adding that, "if the war stops, this military will no longer exist".
Israeli strikes on Lebanon since October have killed over 450 people, most of whom were Hezbollah fighters, but the dead also include over 80 civilians and non-fighters.
Whereas in Israel, 16 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed since the war on Gaza began. Several thousands of people on both sides of the tense frontier have been displaced in the 9-month long war.
