A rocket slammed into the Israeli-controlled portion of the Golan Heights
A rocket launch from a soccer field kills 11 people in the Golan Heights: Israeli officials urge Israel to stop attacking Hezbollah
TEL AVIV, Israel, and GAZA STRIP — A rocket hit a sports complex filled with children playing soccer in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights region Saturday afternoon, on the same day that an Israeli strike in Gaza devastated a school building and killed dozens of people.
The strike, the deadliest attack on an Israeli target since the fighting between the two foes erupted in October, raised fears of of a broader conflagration in the region.
The statement said that a rocket was launched from a soccer field and caused multiple civilian casualties, including children.
Israel’s Magen David Adom paramedics first reported that 11 people were wounded and nine were critically wounded, with all of them being between the ages of 10 and 20. Israeli Public Broadcaster Kan aired footage of some being rushed to ambulances on stretchers from a soccer field in the town of Majdal Shams.
The head of the local council spoke to Israeli Channel 12 about the kids at the soccer field. “Today a red line was crossed,” he said, urging Israeli leaders to start targeting top Hezbollah commanders.
The military said that there was a projectile spotted crossing from Lebanon towards the area, as well as working with the medical services to evacuate the wounded. Channel 12 aired footage of a large blast in one of the town’s valleys.
After months of skirmishes, alongside artillery, airstrikes and rocket attacks that have been traded back and forth across Israel’s border with Lebanon, many analysts and regional leaders have expressed concerns about a significant military escalation between Hezbollah and the Israel military.
Hamas’ attack on Israel: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Druze community in the difficult hour of the conflict in the Gazan city
The airstrike in central Gaza was the latest to shatter a school used to shelter displaced Palestinian residents Saturday morning, killing 30 and wounding more than 100. The Gazan Health Ministry said many of the dead were children.
The school was in Deir al-Balah, the central Gazan city, where many Palestinians have fled after the Israel military ordered them to leave.
Blood was everywhere in the minutes that followed the strike, with pieces of flesh visible on the stairs and handicapped residents trying to flee, according to NPR reporter Anas Baba, who witnessed the immediate aftermath.
The bodies of children who had been wounded were carried away on donkey carts in a video that was captured by Baba. Several of the hallways in the hospitals were lined with the bodies of very young children.
The Israeli military said its intelligence indicated that Hamas had been using the school compound as a hiding place for assaults on Israeli units. The Israeli military said that they had taken numerous steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians.
The UN estimates more than 2 million people in Gaza are under similar orders to leave the territory.
A spokesperson for the Israeli military, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said it was the deadliest single attack on an Israeli target since Oct. 7, the date of the Hamas-led attack on Israel that sparked the current war in Gaza.
The incident has prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was briefed on the situation while in Washington, D.C., to return to Israel from the U.S. earlier than planned. He will convene a cabinet meeting of his top political allies upon his return.
In a statement issued by his office, Netanyahu said the entire nation of Israel embraced the children’s families and “the entire Druze community in its difficult hour, which is also our difficult hour.”
Netanyahu warned that the State of Israel would not allow this to happen in silence after Hezbollah categorically denied involvement in the incident. We will not pay attention to this.
Hezbollah’s denial of involvement confirmed its commitment to avoiding violence against civilians, and proved that Lebanon was not to blame, according to the parliamentary speaker in Lebanon.
The Lebanese government said the targeting of civilians is a “violation of international law” and that it condemned “all acts of violence and attacks against all civilians.”
A rocket hit a sports complex filled with children playing soccer in Israeli- controlled Golan Heights on Saturday, killing 11 people including children, Israel’s military said. The rocket was launched from a soccer field and caused multiple civilian casualties, including children, it added. “Today a red line was crossed,” it further said, urging Israeli leaders to start targeting top Hezbollah commanders.