At least 11 Israelis were killed and dozens more injured in an attack from Lebanon on Saturday afternoon on a football field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The dead include children and teenagers between the ages of 10 and 20, the Israeli Red Star of David (Magen David Adom) reported and the Jerusalem Post reported. The dozens of injured people are being taken to medical facilities in Magen David Adom ambulances and military helicopters.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Saturday that the Lebanese Hezbollah movement “brutally murdered” children. “Hezbollah terrorists attacked and brutally murdered children today, whose only crime was going out to play football. They never returned,” Herzog said in a statement, following the latest death toll in the town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, of 11 children.
“We arrived at the football field and saw all the destruction and various things burning. Victims were lying on the grass. It was difficult,” said Idan Avshalom, a paramedic at Magen David Adom, as quoted by the Post.
“We immediately began assessing the injured. Some were taken to local clinics and our teams also went to those clinics. Several other alerts were issued during the incident. We continue to provide care to the injured,” he added.
Police have reported an operation in the northern Golan Heights region and that several people have been injured by shrapnel. Police are cordoning off the area and searching for remains to prevent further risks to the population.
Up to nine of the injured are believed to be in critical condition, according to the Red Star of David (Magen David Adom), which indicates that the victims are between 10 and 20 years old.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Armed Forces confirmed the impact of a projectile coming from Lebanese territory in the Majdal Shams area. Military and medical personnel are already working on the evacuation, according to the military statement.
In addition, it was reported that around thirty projectiles were detected launched from Lebanese territory. “Air defense fighters successfully intercepted several missiles. The rest of the missiles fell in an open area, without casualties.”he indicated on his official channel.
Ten other shells were detected in the Neve Ativ area at around 17:55. All of them “fell in an open area and did not cause any casualties.”
The Golan Heights is a territory that Israel captured from Syria during the Six-Day War (1967) and the Yom Kippur War (1973) and effectively annexed in 1981.
The Lebanese movement Hezbollah Hezbollah, a pro-Iran group, on Saturday denied responsibility for rocket fire that killed nine people in the Golan Heights town of Majdal Shams. In a statement, Hezbollah, a pro-Iran group, “categorically” denied the accusations of an attack on Majdal Shams, but the Israeli army maintains that the rocket fire was the work of the Lebanese group.
Source: EUROPE PRESS/AFP