A rocket attack Saturday on a soccer field in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights killed at least 11 people and wounded several others, including children, Israel said, hours after an Israeli airstrike on south Lebanon killed three members of the militant Hezbollah group.
The strike, the deadliest attack on an Israeli target since the fighting between the two foes erupted in October, raised fears of a broader conflagration in the region. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was departing Washington, D.C., Saturday night following his trip to the U.S., the Israeli Embassy told CBS News.
Saturday was a day of "almost all-out war" between Israel and Hezbollah following the rocket attack that killed children in Majdal Shams in northern Israel a U.S. official confirmed to CBS News. Officials said the strike was a "nightmare scenario" feared by Biden officials - and mass casualties would force a heavier Israeli response than the usual tit-for-tat.
White House officials have been working the phones to de-escalate and contain the fallout.
"We condemn this horrific attack that reportedly killed a number of teenagers and children playing soccer on a Saturday evening in the village of Majdal Shams in northern Israel, " a spokesperson for the National Security Council said.
"Israel continues to face severe threats to its security, as the world saw today, and the United States will continue to support efforts to end these terrible attacks along the Blue Line, which must be a top priority. Our support for Israel's security is iron-clad and unwavering against all Iranian backed terrorist groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah."
Hezbollah said it struck a military base in the Golan Heights in retaliation for Israeli attacks on a village in Lebanon.
Hezbollah chief spokesman Mohammed Afif told The Associated Press that the group "categorically denies carrying out an attack on Majdal Shams."
Chief spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari asserted to journalists that "Hezbollah is lying." He said all 11 people killed were aged 10 to 20 and that more than 20 other people were wounded.
The Israeli military said in a statement Saturday that according to intelligence in its possession, "the rocket launch toward Majdal Shams was carried out by the Hezbollah terrorist organization."
"The Hezbollah terrorist organization is behind the rocket launch at a soccer field in Majdal Shams which caused multiple civilian casualties, including children, earlier this evening," the statement said.
Israel's Magen David Adom paramedic service initially reported 11 people wounded, nine critically, and all 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.
"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," he said, urging Israeli leaders to start targeting top Hezbollah commanders.
The Israeli military said one projectile was identified crossing from Lebanon toward the area, adding it was cooperating with the MDA to evacuate the wounded. Channel 12 aired footage of a large blast in one of the town's valleys.
Hezbollah said in a statement that its militants firing Katyusha rockets at an Israeli army post in the Golan Heights was in response to Israeli airstrikes on villages in south Lebanon. The group said earlier that three of its members were killed on Saturday without specifying where. Israel's military said its air force targeted a Hezbollah arms depot on the border village of Kfar Kila, adding that militants were inside at the time.
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed them in 1981.
Israel and Hezbollah have traded near daily fire since the war in Gaza started after Hamas' surprise attack on Oct. 7 killed some 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Israel launched an offensive that has so far killed more than 39,000 people, according to local health authorities, displaced over 80% of the territory's people and triggered a humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip.
CBS News has learned the latest round of in-person hostage talks are set to take place Sunday in Rome, Italy, with CIA Director William Burns traveling to the Italian capital to meet Mossad Director David Barnea, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, in an attempt to finalize a deal.
The talks come as U.S. officials claimed to have dialed up the pressure on Netanyahu during his White House meetings this week to close on a cease-fire deal.
Over the past weeks, the exchange of fire along the Lebanon-Israel intensified with Israeli airstrikes and rocket and drone attacks by Hezbollah striking deeper and further away from the border.
Since early October, Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed more than 450 people, mostly Hezbollah members, but also around 90 civilians and non-combatants. On the Israeli side, 21 soldiers and 13 civilians had been killed before Saturday.
Margaret Brennan contributed to this report.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
