TEL AVIV, Israel — The Middle East was bracing for a potential flare-up in violence on Sunday after Israeli authorities said a rocket from Lebanon struck a soccer field in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, killing 12 children and teens in what the military said was the deadliest attack on civilians since Oct. 7. The strike raised fears of a broader regional war between Israel and Hezbollah, which denied a role in the attack.
Overnight, the Israeli military said it struck a number of targets inside Lebanon, though the intensity of the strikes was similar to months of cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Saturday’s attack comes at a sensitive time, as Israel and Hamas are negotiating a cease-fire proposal to end the nearly 10-month war in Gaza and free the roughly 110 hostages who remain captive there.
Here is a look at the broader repercussions of Saturday’s attack:
On Saturday just before sunset, a rocket slammed into a soccer pitch where dozens of children and teens were playing in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, which is located about 12 kilometers (7 miles) south of Lebanon and next to the Syrian border. Twelve young people between the ages of 10 and 20 were killed, and 20 were wounded, according to the Israeli military.
“I feel darkness inside and out. Nothing like this happened here,” Anan Abu Saleh, a Majdal Shams resident, said from the soccer field on Saturday night. “There’s no way to explain this. I saw children, I don’t want to say what I saw, but its horrible, really horrible. We need more security.”
Shrapnel and spatters of blood pockmarked the field as emergency workers collected burned backpacks and bicycles. Overnight, residents began setting up hundreds of chairs on the field where the attack took place to hold a mass memorial. Residents told Israeli media it was the only place in the town that would be able to hold the tens of thousands of people expected to gather.
