Tel Aviv [Israel], July 28: A rocket attack on a football ground in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights killed 11 people including children on Saturday, Israeli authorities said, blaming Hezbollah and vowing to respond against the Iran-backed Lebanese group.
Hezbollah denied any responsibility for the strike, the deadliest in Israel or Israeli-annexed territory since the start of the conflict in Gaza.
"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," Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Axios.
In a written statement, Hezbollah said: "The Islamic Resistance has absolutely nothing to do with the incident, and categorically denies all false allegations in this regard". The group had earlier announced several rocket attacks targeting Israeli military positions in other locations from Lebanon.
Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire in areas at or near the Lebanese-Israeli border since the eruption of the Gaza war, in a conflict that has stirred fears of a full-blown conflict between the heavily armed adversaries.
The Israeli ambulance service said 13 more people were wounded by a rocket fired from Lebanon that hit a football pitch in the Druze village of Majdal Shams.
"We witnessed great destruction when we arrived at the soccer field, as well as items that were on fire. There were casualties on the grass and the scene was gruesome," Idan Avshalom, a medic with the Magen David Adom ambulance service, said.
A witness told Reuters: "It landed in the soccer pitch, all of them are children . many bodies and remains are in field we don't know who they are." She asked not to be named.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, already due to head back from the United States to Israel overnight on Saturday, said he would bring his flight forward and convene his security cabinet upon arrival.
His far-right coalition ally, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, called for tough retaliation, including against Hezbollah's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
"For the death of children, Nasrallah should pay with his head. All of Lebanon should pay," Smotrich posted on X. "The prime minister should return immediately. This is the time for actions."
Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for the UNIFIL peacekeeping force which operates in southern Lebanon, told Reuters its force commander was in contact with authorities in both Lebanon and Israel "to understand the details of the Majdal Shams incident and to maintain calm".
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Cooperation