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[Text/Observer.com Xiong Chaoran] According to Reuters and The Times of Israel on July 27, local time, Israel said that Hezbollah in Lebanon fired rockets at the Golan Heights occupied by Israel that day, and a football field was attacked, killing at least 12 people, including children, and injuring dozens of people. Hezbollah in Lebanon denied this statement.

Reuters said this was the deadliest attack on Israel or the occupied territories since the outbreak of the current round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict on October 7 last year. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) pointed out that the attack on that day was the one that caused the most deaths in Israel's northern border area since October 7 last year.

The Times of Israel reported that Israeli officials quickly vowed to retaliate and discussed taking "unprecedented response measures" after the "shocking attack," which raised concerns about a new round of escalation and possible all-out war between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

It was reported that a football field in the Golan Heights town of Majdal Shams was attacked by rockets that day. Although the alarm had sounded, the people present were unable to escape in time because the time was too short.

IDF spokesman Hagari said at a press conference on the evening of July 27 that all the victims were between the ages of 10 and 20, all of them children or teenagers. Israeli officials said that medical staff declared 10 people dead on the spot, and another 2 were pronounced dead after being sent to the hospital.

Baruch Pad Medical Center near Tiberias said four people were taken to the hospital in serious condition. Ziv Medical Center in Safed said it had 32 injured people, six of whom were being treated in trauma wards, 13 with moderate to severe injuries and 10 with minor injuries. Another four were taken to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.

Reuters said that before the attack on the football field in the Golan Heights that day, Israel had earlier launched an attack on Lebanon, killing four militants. Lebanese security sources said that the four militants who died were members of different armed groups, at least one of whom belonged to Hezbollah.

Hezbollah later said it had launched at least four attacks, including Katyusha rockets, in retaliation for the Israeli strikes. Initially, Hezbollah was responsible for firing Katyusha rockets and a heavy Falak rocket at a military base near the Golan Heights.

After the news of the attack on the local football field came out, Hezbollah in Lebanon issued a statement saying that it "has absolutely nothing to do with this incident" and denied all false accusations in this regard.

However, the Israeli military disagreed with Hezbollah's denial, insisting that the attack was "carried out by the Hezbollah terrorist organization," and citing "military assessments and reliable intelligence" that it was certain that the rocket was fired by Hezbollah and that the rocket was an Iranian-made Falak-1 rocket "exclusively owned by Hezbollah." Hagari said Israel was preparing to retaliate.

The Golan Heights are a territory Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war, but most countries do not recognize Israel's strategic control over the Golan Heights. Majdal Shams is one of four villages in the Golan Heights that are home to about 25,000 Arabic-speaking Druze, an Arab minority that practices an offshoot of Islam.

The Times of Israel said Israeli politicians from all sides expressed indignation at the attack and criticized the Netanyahu government for failing to bring security to the north after months of fighting, while demanding decisive action against Hezbollah.

After hastily ending his visit to the United States and returning home early, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu issued a statement through his office. During a phone call with the leader of the Israeli Druze community, he said, "Hezbollah in Lebanon will pay a heavy price that it has not paid so far."

Israeli officials also said that Israel's military response to Hezbollah in Lebanon could be "very fierce." Israeli Defense Minister Galant's office said that senior military and security officials had submitted an "action plan against Hezbollah" to Galant in response to the deadly attack.

On July 27, local time, the Lebanese caretaker government issued a statement condemning all violence and attacks against civilians and calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts. The statement stressed that "attacks against civilians are a blatant violation of international law and humanitarian principles."

Meanwhile, the United States, which has been leading diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the conflict on the Israeli-Lebanese border, condemned the attack and reiterated its "unwavering support for Israel's security and against all Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon."

A spokesman for the White House National Security Council said in a statement that the United States "will continue to support efforts to end these horrific attacks along the Blue Line (referring to the border between Lebanon and Israel), which must be a top priority."

An official in the Biden administration expressed concern that the attack could spark an all-out war between Israel and Iranian-backed military groups. The official told Axios News: "What happened today could be the trigger that we have been worried about and trying to avoid for 10 months."

Lebanon's Hezbollah is the most powerful of a network of Iranian-backed militias in the Middle East that also includes Yemen's Houthi rebels and groups in Iraq that have joined the fight since October last year in support of their Palestinian ally Hamas.

Since October 7 last year, forces led by Lebanon's Hezbollah have attacked Israeli communities and military outposts along the border almost every day. Hezbollah said the move was to support the people of Gaza during the Gaza War. The BBC said that although Israel and Hezbollah often exchange fire and both sides suffer casualties, since October last year, both sides have avoided taking actions that could escalate into a wider war in southern Lebanon.

However, Reuters now believes that the attack on the football stadium has greatly increased tensions in the hostilities that coexist with the Gaza war and raised concerns about the outbreak of a full-scale conflict between these regional rivals.

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