Israel warns of latest deadly Hezbollah attack in northern Israel

At least 12 children, teenagers and young adults were killed and dozens wounded in an attack on a football field in the village of Majdal Shams, the Golan Heights, a disputed region of Syria annexed by Israel, Israeli emergency services and military spokesmen said.

Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, the commander of the Northern Command, the head of the Operations Directorate, the commander of the Israeli Air Force and other members of the General Staff Forum assessed the situation following recent missile launches in Majdal Shams and other areas of northern Israel.

Hezbollah launched an attack on a football field in the Druze village of Majdal Shams, according to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), which indicated that what was detected in the offensive against this enclave was a rocket. 

Therefore, according to the IDF and Israeli intelligence assessment of the situation, the rocket launch towards Majdal Shams was carried out by the Hezbollah terrorist organisation from an area north of the village of Chebaa in southern Lebanon.

The rocket was fired at a football field in Majdal Shams, causing multiple civilian casualties, including children, according to the same sources. 

Following the attack, Northern Command Commander General Ori Gordin conducted an assessment of the situation at the Majdal Shams operations centre with 210th Division Commander Brigadier General Yair Peli and other commanders. 

In addition, they visited the area where the rocket hit the Majdal Shams football field and held talks with the heads of the local authorities and residents.

General Ori Gordin also spoke with the head of the Druze community, Shaykh Mowafaq Tarif, and expressed deep sorrow on his behalf and on behalf of the IDF for the deaths of the children, and called for all possible support for the families and the community. 

In this regard, the Israeli foreign minister said on Sunday that the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah ‘crossed all red lines’ following this rocket fire the day before from Lebanon into the annexed Golan Heights, which killed 12 people, as reported by the AFP news agency. 

"Saturday's massacre means that Hezbollah has crossed all red lines. This is not an army fighting another army, but a terrorist organisation deliberately shooting at civilians,’ Israel Katz said in a statement.

Hezbollah, literally translated as Party of God, is a Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim political party and paramilitary group supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel's great enemy in the Middle East, which is taking advantage of the current Gaza war between the Israeli army and the Palestinian extremist group Hamas to offer its full support to the Palestinian people and launch offensives against Hebrew territory.

Iran has been singled out over the years by various analysts as a destabilising element in the Middle East for its belligerent stance and its interference in the internal affairs of neighbouring countries through Shiite groups that act on its behalf, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Popular Mobilisation Forces in Iraq and the Houthis in the Yemen war.