Netanyahu says Hezbollah will pay ‘heavy price’ after deadly strike on soccer field

Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Hezbollah “will pay a heavy price for this attack, one that it has not paid so far,” his office said after a rocket strike at a soccer field in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights killed at least 11 children and teens.

It was the deadliest strike on an Israeli target along the country’s northern border since the fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah began. It raised fears of a broader regional war.

Israel is blaming Hezbollah for the strike, but Hezbollah has rushed to deny any role. Israel’s military called it a “very serious” event and said it would act accordingly.

“Hezbollah fired a rocket at children playing soccer in northern Israel. It then lied and claimed they did not carry out the attack,” said the military’s chief spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. He called it the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians since the Hamas attack on October 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,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Israeli Channel 12. “We are nearing the moment in which we face an all-out war.”

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

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 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 Israeli 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 Israeli airstrikes on villages in southern Lebanon.