Ten people, including children, were killed Saturday in a rocket attack on a soccer field in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Israeli network N12 News reported. This is the most serious incident in recent months of exchanges of fire between Israel and armed groups in Lebanon.
The Israeli military said the missile was fired by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The Iran-backed group denied any involvement in the attack, which appeared set to draw a strong response from Israel.
Israeli authorities said earlier that nine people were seriously injured by a rocket fired from Lebanon that hit a soccer field in the Druze village of Majdal Shams city. A doctor spoke of major destruction and fire at the scene.
The attack on the soccer field followed an Israeli attack in Lebanon that killed four militants on Saturday. Two security sources in Lebanon said the four fighters killed in the Israeli strike in the Kfarkila area of southern Lebanon were members of various armed groups, with at least one of them belonging to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah claimed at least four attacks, including Katyusha rocket attacks, in retaliation for the attacks in Kfarkila. However, Hezbollah's senior media representative, Mohammad Afif, denied responsibility for the attack on the town of Majdal Shams.
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the Middle East war in 1967 and annexed them in 1981.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, Israel and Hezbollah have carried out daily attacks on each other.
Since early October, Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed more than 450 people, most of them members of Hezbollah, but also about 90 civilians and non-combatants. On the Israeli side, 21 soldiers and 13 civilians were killed.
