Israel strikes Hezbollah targets after football pitch attack raising fresh fears of wider war

The Israeli military says it has struck Hezbollah targets “deep inside Lebanese territory” after at least 12 children and teenagers were killed by an attack on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said weapons caches and “terrorist infrastructure” were struck during their counterattack.

The strike affected the areas of Chabriha, Borj El Chmali, Beqaa, Kfarkela, Rab El Thalathine, Khiam, and Tayr Harfa, according to the IDF.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned Hezbollah would “pay a heavy price” for an attack on a football pitch in the Golan Heights – the deadliest on an Israeli target since war broke out in the region in October. At least 12 children and young adults were killed in Golan Heights.

The rising tensions threaten to trigger an all-out war between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, while it wages a war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

While the IDF claimed Hezbollah was responsible for the airstrike on Saturday, Mohamad Afif, head of Hezbollah’s media office, said the accusation was “false”.

Hezbollah said it struck a military base in the Golan Heights in retaliation for Israeli attacks on a village in Lebanon.

Forensics showed it was an Iranian-made Falaq-1 that hit the football field, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said.

Hezbollah has been exchanging cross-border fire with Israel since Hamas attacked the country on 7 October, killing some 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage.

The group says it will halt its attacks on Israel once the country reaches a ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Iran has come out to subsequently warn Israel against any new “adventure” in Lebanon.

In recent weeks, the exchange of fire along the Lebanon-Israel border has intensified, with Israeli airstrikes and rocket and drone attacks by Hezbollah striking deeper and farther away from the border.

Far-right members of Mr Netanyahu’s government called for a harsh response against Hezbollah. But an all-out war with a militant group with far superior firepower to Hamas would be challenging for Israel’s military after nearly 10 months of fighting in Gaza.

A UN statement asked all sides to exercise “maximum restraint”, warning of the risk of a wider conflict that would “engulf the entire region in a catastrophe beyond belief”.

Israel Katz, the foreign minister, has told Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 that Hezbollah had “crossed all the red lines here”.

“We are nearing the moment in which we face an all-out war,” he added.

The United States said its support for Israel’s security was “iron-clad and unwavering against all Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah”.

Lebanon’s government in a statement has called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts” and condemned all attacks on civilians.

The White House National Security Council condemned the attack on Israel without directly blaming Hezbollah, adding that the US “will continue to support efforts to end these terrible attacks along the Blue Line, which must be a top priority”.

The statement added: “Our support for Israel’s security is iron-clad and unwavering against all Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah.”

Saturday’s violence comes as Israel and Hamas are weighing a ceasefire proposal that would wind down the nearly 10-month war and free the roughly 110 hostages who remain captive in Gaza.

Israel’s offensive on the Gaza Strip has killed more than 39,000 people, according to local health authorities.