Strike on Israeli Golan Heights kills 11 and threatens to spark a wider war. Hezbollah denies a role – National

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Strike on ******** Golan Heights ****** 11 and threatens to spark a wider war. Hezbollah denies a role – National

A rocket strike Saturday at a soccer field ******* at least 11 children and teens, ******** authorities said, in the deadliest strike on an ******** target along the country’s northern border since the fighting between ******* and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah began. It raised fears of a broader regional war.

******* blamed Hezbollah for the strike in the ********-controlled Golan Heights, but Hezbollah rushed to deny any role. ******** Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Hezbollah “will pay a heavy price for this *******, one that it has not paid so far.”

The ******** military’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, called it the deadliest ******* on ******** civilians since the ****** ******* on Oct. 7 that sparked the war in Gaza. He said 20 others were wounded.

“There is no doubt that Hezbollah has crossed all the red lines here, and the response will reflect that,” ******** Foreign Minister ******* Katz told ******** Channel 12. “We are nearing the moment in which we face an all-out war.”

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Hezbollah chief spokesman Mohammed Afif told The Associated Press that the group “categorically denies carrying out an ******* on Majdal Shams.” It is unusual for Hezbollah to deny an *******.

The strike at the soccer field, just before sunset, followed earlier cross-border ********* on Saturday, when Hezbollah said three of its fighters were *******, without specifying where. *******’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.

Hezbollah said its fighters carried out nine different attacks using rockets and explosive drones against ******** military posts, the last of which targeted the army command of the Haramoun Brigade in Maaleh Golani with Katyusha rockets. It said they were in response to ******** airstrikes on villages in southern Lebanon.

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The office of Netanyahu, who was on a visit to the ******* States, said he would cut short his trip by several hours, without specifying when he would return. It said he will convene the security Cabinet after arriving.

Far-right members of Netanyahu’s government called for a harsh response against Hezbollah. But an all-out war with a militant group with far superior firepower to ****** would be trying for *******’s military after nearly 10 months of fighting in Gaza.

Footage aired on ******** Channel 12 showed a large blast in one of the valleys in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, in the Golan Heights, which ******* captured from Syria in the 1967 ******** war and annexed in 1981. Some Druze have ******** citizenship. Many still have sympathies for Syria and rejected ******** annexation, but their ties with ******** society have grown over the years.

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Video showed paramedics rushing stretchers off the soccer field toward waiting ambulances.

Ha’il Mahmoud, a resident, told Channel 12 that children were playing soccer when the rocket hit the field. He said a siren was heard seconds before the rocket hit, but there was no time to take shelter.

Jihan Sfadi, the principal of an elementary school, told Channel 12 that five students were among the *****: “The situation here is very difficult. Parents are crying, people are screaming outside. No one can digest what has happened.”

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*******’s military said its analysis showed that the rocket was launched from an area north of the village of Chebaa in southern Lebanon.

The White House National Security Council in a statement said the U.S. “will continue to support efforts to end these terrible attacks along the Blue Line, which must be a top priority. Our support for *******’s security is iron-clad and unwavering against all Iranian-backed ********** groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah.”

Lebanon’s government, in a statement that didn’t mention Majdal Sham, urged an “immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts” and condemned all attacks on civilians.

******* and Hezbollah have been trading ***** since Oct. 8, a day after ****** militants stormed into southern *******. In recent weeks, the exchange of ***** along the Lebanon-******* border has intensified, with ******** airstrikes and rocket and drone attacks by Hezbollah striking deeper and farther away from the border.

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Majdal Shams had not been among border communities ordered to evacuate as tensions rose, *******’s military said, without saying why. The town doesn’t sit directly on the border with Lebanon.

Officials from countries including the ******* States and France have visited Lebanon to try to ease the tensions but ******* to make progress. Hezbollah has refused to cease ******* as long as *******’s offensive in Gaza continues. ******* and Hezbollah fought an inconclusive war in 2006.

Saturday’s ********* comes as ******* and ****** are weighing a cease-***** proposal that would wind down the nearly 10-month war in Gaza and free the roughly 110 hostages who remain captive there. ******’ ******* on Oct. 7 ******* some 1,200 people and took 250 others ********. *******’s offensive has ******* more than 39,000 people, according to local health authorities.

Since early October, ******** airstrikes in Lebanon have ******* more than 450 people, mostly Hezbollah members, but also around 90 civilians and non-combatants. On the ******** side, 44 have been *******, at least 21 of them soldiers.

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#Strike #******** #Golan #Heights #****** #threatens #spark #wider #war #Hezbollah #denies #role #National

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