TEL AVIV - At least 11 people were killed Saturday, mostly children and teens, and dozens more were wounded when a rocket from Lebanon hit a soccer field in the northern Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. It was the single deadliest Hezbollah attack on northern Israel since fighting there began in October. Israeli residents and first responders described scenes of bloody carnage on the pitch. Though a warning siren had sounded, it was too short an alert for the victims, who were unable to flee in time.
The shocking attack led to swift promises of retaliation and talk of an unprecedented response among Israeli officials as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hurried home from the US, raising the specter of a fresh escalation and a potential full-blown war between Israel and the Lebanese group.
Baruch Padeh Medical Center near Tiberias said four people in serious condition were brought to the hospital. Ziv Medical Center in Safed said it admitted 32 wounded, including six being treated in the trauma ward, 13 in moderate-to-serious condition, and 10 who were lightly hurt. Another four casualties were taken to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. Medics declared 10 of the victims dead at the scene, while the 11th was declared dead upon arriving at Ziv, officials said. Politicians from across the political spectrum expressed outrage at the attack and the government’s failure to bring security to the north after long months of fighting, while demanding decisive action against Hezbollah. Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a press conference on Saturday night that all the victims were aged 10 to 20. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks by phone to Sheikh Muafak Ṭarif, spiritual leader of Israel’s Druze community. Netanyahu expresses “his deep horror at the murder of the children and innocents by Hezbollah,” according to the Prime Minister’s Office. He also expresses “heartfelt condolences in the name of all Israel” to the families of the murdered and to the entire Druze community. “Prime Minister Netanyahu made clear that Israel will not allow the murderous attack to simply pass on by, and that Hezbollah will pay a heavy price for this that it has not paid to this point,” says the Prime Minister’s Office.
