12 children killed as Hezbollah rocket hits soccer field, sparking wider war fears
Israeli strikes killed two people and injured three others in southern Lebanon early Monday, Lebanon’s state–run news agency said, as Israel weighs its response to a rocket attack from Lebanon over the weekend that killed 12 youths in the Israel–controlled Golan Heights.
Monday’s strikes did not appear to be Israel’s widely expected response to the deadly attack as concerns continue about a broader regional war. Cross–border fighting between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah has occurred almost daily since the war in Gaza began in October.
Lebanese state media said the Monday strike hit a motorcycle close to the Lebanon–Israel border, killing two riders and injuring a child. No more information was immediately available. Two were injured in a separate strike in southern Lebanon, Lebanese state media reported.
Israeli military officials said only that it had struck Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure.
Thousands of mourners laid to rest on Monday the 12th victim of the rocket strike from Lebanon that hit a soccer field in Israeli–controlled territory, an attack that risked pushing the region toward all–out war.
The body of 11–year–old Guevara Ibrahim was carried through the streets of the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli–controlled Golan Heights in a procession of people clad in black. Pictures of the smiling boy were hoisted up as his body, shrouded in white, was moved through the streets.
Ibrahim was one of 12 children and teens between the ages of 10 to 16 who were killed when a rocket struck a soccer field. It was the deadliest attack on Israel or Israeli–controlled territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.
The strike’s other victims were buried on Sunday but Ibrahim’s body was not immediately identified and he was initially considered missing, Israeli media reported.
Israel blamed Hezbollah for Saturday’s strike, but in an unusual move the Iran–backed Lebanese militant group denied involvement.
Israel is expected to retaliate and the region is bracing for the possibility of an escalation in the fighting.
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging cross–border fire since Oct. 8, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.
Officials from Egypt and Hamas say cease–fire negotiations still face hurdles