At least 11 people, including children, have been killed in a rocket attack on a football pitch in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, according Israeli authorities.
The Israeli military said all of those killed in the Druze village of Majdal Shams were aged between 10 and 20.
More than 13 more people were wounded by a rocket fired from Lebanon, the Israeli ambulance service said.
“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, who asked not to be named, said: “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.”
The attack came hours after an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon killed three members of the Hezbollah group.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its aircraft had targeted a military structure belonging to Hezbollah, after identifying a militant cell entering the building.
Hezbollah claimed at least four attacks, including with Katyusha rockets, in retaliation but senior media representative Mohammad Afif denied responsibility for the strike on Majdal Shams.
The IDF claims according to its “situational assessment and intelligence” Hezbollah was behind the rocket attack and Israeli chief spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told journalists: “Hezbollah is lying.”
An Israeli military spokesman said: “We are preparing a response against Hezbollah.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu consults his military secretary, Major-General Roman Gofman. Pic: GPO
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‘At least 30 killed’ in Israeli strike on Gaza school
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been updated on the details of the attack and is holding a security meeting with his military and security chiefs.
The Lebanese government condemned “all acts of violence and attacks against all civilians,” and called for “an immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts” in a statement, according to the country’s national news agency.
The statement stressed that “targeting civilians is a flagrant violation of international law and contradicts the principles of humanity”.
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Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire in areas at or near the Lebanese-Israeli border since the start of the conflict in Gaza.
The strike, which is the deadliest attack on an Israeli target, raises fears of a broader escalation in the region.
Israeli Public Broadcaster Kan aired footage of some people being rushed to ambulances on stretchers.
“These were kids at a soccer field,” Beni Ben Muvchar, head of the local council, told Israeli Channel 12. “Today a red line was crossed.”
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed them in 1981.
That unilateral annexation was not recognised internationally, and Syria demands the return of the territory.