At least 11 killed, including children, in Golan Heights as Israel blames Hezbollah

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 Israeli civilians since the fighting between the two foes erupted on Oct. 7, raised fears of a broader conflagration in the region. 

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

However, a U.S. official told CBS News Saturday night that “there’s no real doubt here this was Hezbollah.”      

And Israel’s military chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari also 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.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Hezbollah “will pay a heavy price for this attack, one that it has not paid so far.”  

Cutting his nearly week-long trip to the U.S. short, Netanyahu departed Washington, D.C., Saturday night en route to Israel, an Israeli official 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 administration officials — and mass casualties would force a heavier Israeli response than the usual tit-for-tat.

White House officials were 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.”

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 Israeli military said one projectile was identified crossing from Lebanon toward the area. Channel 12 aired footage of a large blast in one of the town’s valleys.  

The strike at the soccer field, just before sunset, followed earlier cross-border violence on Saturday, when Hezbollah said three of its fighters were killed, without specifying where. Israel’s military said its air force targeted a Hezbollah arms depot in the border village of Kfar Kila, adding that militants were inside at the time.  

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

“These were kids at a soccer field,” Beni Ben Muvchar, head of the…