Israel blames Hezbollah, vows response

The Iran-backed group denies involvement

FE Team | Published: July 28, 2024 23:58:18

GOLAN HEIGHTS, July 28 (Reuters): A rocket attack on a football ground in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights killed 12 people including children on Saturday, Israeli authorities said, blaming Hezbollah and vowing to inflict a heavy price on the Iran-backed Lebanese group.
Hezbollah denied any responsibility for the strike, the deadliest in Israel or Israeli-annexed territory since the start of the conflict in Gaza.
The attack sharply escalated tensions in the hostilities which have been fought in parallel to the Gaza war and has raised fears of a full-blown conflict between the heavily armed adversaries.
The rocket struck a football pitch in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, territory captured from Syria by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not recognised by most countries.
"Hezbollah will pay a heavy price, the kind it has thus far not paid," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a phone call with the leader of the Druze community in Israel, according to a statement from his office.
In a written statement, Hezbollah said: "The Islamic Resistance has absolutely nothing to do with the incident, and categorically denies all false allegations in this regard".
Hezbollah had earlier announced several rocket attacks targeting Israeli military positions.
The Israeli ambulance service said 13 more people were wounded by the rocket that hit the soccer pitch which was filled at the time with children and teenagers.
"They were playing soccer, they heard sirens they ran to shelter.. it may take them like 15 seconds (to reach the shelter). But they couldn't reach the shelter because the rocket hit the site between the ground and the shelter," said Mourhaf Abu Saleh, a witness.