The Israeli air force reported hitting Hezbollah targets in Lebanon after a rocket attack killed 12 children and young adults playing football in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Israel has accused the Lebanese militant group of the attack on Saturday in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, although Hezbollah has denied involvement.
Early Sunday, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) conducted air strikes on seven Hezbollah targets “deep inside Lebanese territory.” The casualties from these strikes remain unclear.
The escalating tensions could potentially lead to an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, who have frequently exchanged fire since the Israel-Gaza war began in October.
Saturday’s attack on the football pitch was the deadliest incident near Israel’s northern border since the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.
Hostilities with Hezbollah, previously sporadic, intensified after the group fired rockets at Israeli positions in solidarity with the Palestinians the day after the Hamas attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed retaliation against Hezbollah following Saturday’s strike, declaring the group would “pay a heavy price.”
Hours later, the Israeli Air Force reported hitting “terror targets” including “weapons caches and terrorist infrastructure” overnight.
A UN statement called for “maximum restraint” from all parties to prevent a wider conflict that could “engulf the entire region in a catastrophe beyond belief.”
Hezbollah spokesperson Mohamad Afif denied responsibility for the attack. The BBC is attempting to verify reports that Hezbollah informed the United Nations that an Israeli interceptor rocket caused the explosion.
Israeli authorities confirmed all the victims were between 10 and 20 years old, although some reports suggest some were younger.
Verified footage shows crowds on the football pitch and stretchers being rushed to ambulances.
Majdal Shams is one of four villages in the Golan Heights, home to about 25,000 members of the Arabic-speaking Druze religious and ethnic group.
Before news of the strike’s impact, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for four other attacks, including one on a military compound on Mt Hermon’s slopes, near the Golan Heights and Lebanon border, about 3km from the football pitch.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari, who visited the attack site, accused Hezbollah of “lying and denying responsibility for the incident,” stating the rocket was an Iranian-made Falaq-1 “owned exclusively by Hezbollah.”
“Our intelligence is clear. Hezbollah is responsible for the murder of innocent children,” he said, adding that Israel was preparing a response.
Despite regular exchanges of fire and casualties between Israel and Hezbollah since October, both sides have avoided actions that could escalate into a broader conflict in southern Lebanon.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in the US, is returning home early.
