At least ten dead, including children: Israel blames Hezbollah for rocket attack on the Golan Heights

CNN
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At least 10 people, including children, were killed on Saturday when several rockets hit a village in the Golan Heights, in what Israel said was the deadliest attack since October 7.

Israel said it had identified “about 30 missiles” that entered Israeli territory from Lebanon and blamed the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah for the shelling. Hezbollah denied the accusation and said it “strongly denies” firing the rockets.

At least 29 people were injured in the attack in Majdal Shams, a village in the Israeli-controlled northern Golan Heights that is home to a large Druze community.

About 20,000 Druze Arabs live in the Golan Heights, an area Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 war and which is considered occupied territory under international law and UN Security Council resolutions. Most Druze there identify as Syrian and have rejected offers of Israeli citizenship.

Among the locations hit was a soccer field where children and teenagers were playing, said Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He described the attack as “the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians since October 7.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would cut short his visit to the United States because of the attack and return to Israel, the Israeli government press office said.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the attack as a “terrible and shocking catastrophe” and vowed that Israel would “defend” its citizens.

“Hezbollah terrorists today brutally attacked and murdered children whose only crime was playing football. They have not returned,” he said in a post on X.

“The world cannot continue to stand silently in the face of the terrorist attacks carried out by (Hezbollah leader Hassan) Nasrallah at the behest of the evil empire in Iran. The State of Israel will resolutely defend its citizens and its sovereignty.”

The Israeli rescue service Magen David Adom (MDA) reported that the fatalities included “teenagers and young adults” between the ages of 10 and 20. Another 29 people were injured, six of them in serious condition.

After the rocket attack, the Lebanese government said it condemned “all acts of violence and attacks against all civilians,” the Lebanese state news agency NNA reported.

The government also called for “an immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts” and stated that “attacks on civilians constitute a blatant violation of international law and run counter to the principles of humanity,” NNA reported.

Adeeb Safadi, a resident of Majdal Shams, told CNN that those killed in the rocket attack on the soccer field were Druze children from surrounding villages, boys between the ages of eight and 15.

“They attended a soccer training session with a coach whose fate is still unknown. Ten of those killed have been identified, but there are more who were torn to pieces and whose identities are still unknown,” said Safadi, who lives about 600 meters from the attack site.

He said he saw black smoke and heard an explosion. About four seconds after the explosion, he heard sirens warning people of an impending attack.

Evacuation helicopters, ambulances and intensive care vehicles were dispatched to the scene of the accident.

Idan Avshalom, a senior medic at MDA, said: “We arrived at a football field and saw destruction and burning objects. Injured people were lying on the grass and the sight was horrific. We immediately started triaging the injured, some of the injured were taken to local hospitals and our teams were also sent to the hospitals. There were additional alarms during the incident and medical treatment of the injured is still ongoing.”

The Ziv Medical Center in the northern Israeli city of Safed said it had admitted 26 injured people, five of whom were admitted to the trauma center. The Rambam Hospital in Haifa has also opened an information center where people can get information about their relatives.

Israeli police said ammunition had landed in “several locations in the northern Golan.”

Police are “securing the area and searching for further remains to eliminate any further danger to the public,” the police spokesman said.

Netanyahu is being kept informed of the situation and is currently holding security consultations with his military secretary, General Roman Gofman, his office said in a statement. Later on Saturday, he will hold an assessment of the security situation with all the top defense officials.

While Israeli forces blamed the attack on Hezbollah, which has been involved in an increasing number of cross-border attacks with Israel in recent months, the militant group denied any involvement in a statement on Telegram on Saturday.

“The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon strongly rejects the allegations made by some hostile media and various media platforms regarding the attacks on Majdal Shams,” it said.

“We confirm that the Islamic Resistance has no connection with the incident and strongly reject all false allegations in this regard,” the statement continued.

Israel took the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 during the Six-Day War and annexed the land in 1981. About 53,000 people live in the narrow strip of land, almost evenly divided between Israeli settlers and Syrian Druze, as well as a small group of Alawites.

This story is constantly evolving. More information to come.