Israel vows Hezbollah 'will pay the price' after rocket strike kills 12 children

Good Morning Britain explains the latest developments

Israel has vowed Hezbollah will "pay the price" after blaming the Lebanese-based militant group for a rocket attack that killed 12 children and injured 44 people in the Golan Heights. Overnight on Sunday, Israeli warplanes conducted airstrikes against Hezbollah targets “deep inside Lebanese territory” and along the border. It is not clear if there were any casualties from those strikes.

Hezbollah “firmly denies” it was behind the strike, the deadliest to hit Israel since the October 7 attacks.

Israel said the militant group fired rocket strikes on a football pitch in the Druze town of Majdal Shams, risking a serious escalation of the conflict in the region.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Hezbollah "will pay a heavy price for this attack, one that it has not paid so far". The Israeli security cabinet has authorised Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to decide how and when to respond.

The Israeli military's chief spokesman, Daniel Hagari, said: "There is no doubt that Hezbollah has crossed all the red lines here, and the response will reflect that."

Hezbollah chief spokesman Mohammed Afif said the group "categorically denies carrying out an attack on Majdal Shams".

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned the attack on X: "We are deeply concerned about the risk of further escalation and destabilisation. We have been clear Hizballah must cease their attacks."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said: "There is no justification for terrorism, period, and every indication is that, indeed the rockets were from... or the rocket was from Hezbollah.

"We stand by Israel's right to defend its citizens from terrorist attacks.

"And one of the reasons that we're continuing to work so hard for a ceasefire in Gaza, is just not for Gaza but also so that we can really unlock an opportunity to bring calm, lasting calm across the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon."

The White House National Security Council in a statement said the United States "will continue to support efforts to end these terrible attacks along the Blue Line, which must be a top priority".

"Our support for Israel’s security is iron-clad and unwavering against all Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Lebanese Hezbollah," the statement continued.

In a call with Prime Minister Isaac Herzog, Blinken urged against scaling up the conflict.

The US State Department says the call "emphasised the importance of preventing escalation" and "discussed efforts to reach a diplomatic solution to allow citizens on both sides of the border between Israel and Lebanon to return home."

On Sunday, the Israeli army released footage of what it said were strikes carried out against Hezbollah targets both deep inside Lebanese territory and in southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese foreign minister warned that if Israel responded by invading Lebanon it risked dragging the whole region into war.

“[A] war against Lebanon is a regional war,” caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told CNN.

“It’s not going to be Hezbollah against Israel…You have the Houthis, you have the Iraqi militias, you have militias in Syria who are not Syrians: Pakistani, Afghan militias. They’re all going to get involved in that.”

In the case of a war, he said Lebanon would not get involved but would stand behind Hezbollah.

He added: “If there is a war, we’re supporting Hezbollah, definitely."

“Not because of conviction but because of any attack on our country, we support Hezbollah in this regard.”

Funerals were also held at midday, with coffins draped in white cloth and bearing photos of the victims carried to a community centre in Majdal Shams.

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Ha'il Mahmoud, a local resident, told Israeli Channel 12 that children were playing football when the rocket hit the field.

He said a siren was heard seconds before the rocket hit, but there was no time to take shelter.

Jihan Sfadi, the school principal school, said that five students were among the dead.

He said: "The situation here is very difficult. Parents are crying, people are screaming outside. No one can digest what has happened."

Israel's military said its analysis showed that the rocket was launched from an area north of the village of Chebaa in southern Lebanon.

The strike at the football pitch, just before sunset, followed earlier cross-border violence on Saturday, when Hezbollah said three of its fighters were killed.

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