BBC- Twelve children and young adults have been killed and dozens injured after a rocket hit a football pitch in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Israeli authorities say.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a rocket fired by the powerful Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fell on the Druze town of Majdal Shams – a claim strongly denied by the group.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed retaliation against Hezbollah, saying it would “pay a heavy price”.
The incident has the potential to trigger an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, whose forces have regularly exchanged fire since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war in October.
Saturday’s attack was the deadliest loss of life on Israel’s northern border since the war began on 7 October.
A UN statement said “maximum restraint” was crucial by all parties, with the risk of a wider conflict that would “engulf the entire region in a catastrophe beyond belief”.
Hezbollah spokesman Mohamad Afif denied responsibility for the attack, and the BBC is trying to verify reports that the militant group told the United Nations that the explosion was caused by an Israeli interceptor rocket.
Israeli authorities said all of those killed were between the ages of 10 and 20, although Israeli media reports that some were younger.
Verified video shows crowds of people on a football pitch and stretchers being rushed to waiting ambulances.
Majdal Shams is one of four villages in the Golan Heights, where about 25,000 members of the Arabic-speaking Druze religious and ethnic group live.
