Fears that war will widen grow as Israel retaliates for a strike that killed 12
The Israel Defense Forces said they have hit seven targets “deep inside Lebanese territory” on Sunday in retaliation for a strike on a soccer field that killed at least 12 children and teenagers.
MAJDAL SHAMS, Golan Heights — A single black flag of mourning and growing numbers of wreaths and bouquets mark the site where a rocket struck on Saturday night, killing at least 12, mostly children and teenagers, at a soccer field in Majdal Shams, an Israeli-controlled town in the Golan Heights.
A few yards away, the bikes and e-scooters the children and teenagers arrived on lay discarded, some of the frames pockmarked with shrapnel.
There is a bomb shelter just a few yards from the playing field, but residents said there wasn’t enough time to reach it. The sirens went off just moments before the blast.
The killings set off an exchange of retaliatory strikes that are heightening tensions between two heavily armed forces already locked in conflict.
People gather at the site of the strike on Majdal Shams.Jalaa Marey / AFP - Getty ImagesThe Israeli military said the attack on Majdal Shams was the deadliest strike on civilians in Israeli territory since Oct. 7. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed back to Tel Aviv from the United States as outrage built in Israel. “Israel is approaching the moment of an all-out war against Hezbollah,” the Israeli military said, blaming the attack on the Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon. “The IDF is prepared and ready to protect Israel’s security.”
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