Eleven dead in rocket attack on Israeli-occupied Golan Heights

By Nathan Morley

When a rocket from Lebanon hit a town in the Golan Heights on Saturday, eleven people were killed and at least 34 others injured.

The rocket attack on a football field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights killed eleven people, including children.

Israeli media reported that the rocket was fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon. Hezbollah itself stated that it had “absolutely nothing” to do with the incident.

However, the Israel Defense Forces stressed that their intelligence indicated that the attack was carried out by Hezbollah.

Previously, four Hezbollah members were killed in an Israeli air strike on the Lebanese village of Kafr Kila.

In response, Israeli forces carried out air strikes on seven Hezbollah targets on Lebanese territory before dawn on Sunday.

Tensions along the Lebanese-Israeli border have been escalating since last year after Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets at Israel on October 7 in solidarity with Hamas’ attack on Israel. Israel responded with heavy artillery fire on Lebanon.

In the Gaza Strip, at least 30 Palestinians were killed and 100 others injured in an Israeli bomb attack on a field hospital in Deir al-Balah.

The Israeli army said intelligence sources said the air force jets had attacked “terrorists” operating in a Hamas command center in the Khadija school complex in central Gaza.

Elsewhere, UNICEF has highlighted the plight of children in the West Bank. The organization said a total of 143 Palestinian children have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October last year.

This figure represents an increase of almost 250 percent compared to the previous nine months, when 41 Palestinian children were killed. According to UNICEF, two Israeli children were killed in conflict-related violence in the West Bank during the same period.

In addition, more than 440 Palestinian children were injured by live ammunition.

The figures raise serious concerns about the excessive use of violence against those most at risk.