A rocket attack on the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights killed 12 people, aged between 10-20, while 34 others were injured with six in critical condition.
The Israeli police and army confirmed that rockets hit several sites in the Golan Heights, and one of them hit the town of Majdal Shams, which borders Lebanon and Jordan.
Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that the chief of staff is “assessing the situation” with the head of the Northern Command and the head of the Air Force following the attack on the Majdal Shams area and the northern border with Lebanon.
Though the Israeli government accuses Hezbollah of launching the attack, the latter denies it.
Hezbollah issued a statement saying: “The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon categorically denies the allegations made by some enemy media outlets and various media platforms about targeting Majdal Shams, and stresses that the Islamic Resistance has absolutely nothing to do with the incident, and categorically denies all false allegations in this regard.”
Hezbollah reported that four of its fighters were killed.
Tensions escalate
The Lebanese group has been exchanging cross-border shelling with the Israeli army on an almost daily basis since the war in Gaza Strip began following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
Hezbollah says its attacks on Israel are in support of its ally Hamas and all Palestinians in Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz said: “We are approaching the moment of a comprehensive war in the north against Hezbollah,” according to BBC.
Netanyahu is holding security consultations from Washington, and will later conduct an assessment of the security situation with the heads of security.
A horrific scene
A Paramedic from Israel’s national emergency medical service Magen David Adom (MDA) who arrived at the scene of the shelling in a soccer field in the settlement gave his testimony about the incident to the Hebrew website Walla, saying it was a “difficult” sight.
He added: “The missile hit in a football stadium near an entertainment park, during a heavy barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon towards the Galilee region.”
“The main emergency forces were called to the scene, in addition to evacuation helicopters, ambulances and intensive care vehicles.”
The chief physician of the MDA, Idan Avshalom, said: “We arrived at the football field and saw the destruction and burning, as the wounded were lying on the grass. The scene was horrific.”
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
