Israel attacks targets in Lebanon after deadly Golan Heights strike

The Israeli air force attacked a number of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon overnight following a deadly missile strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights which Israel says was carried out by the Iran-backed militia.

Among the targets were weapons depots as well as combat infrastructure, the Israeli army said on Telegram on Sunday, publishing video footage said to show the overnight attacks.

It was not possible to independently verify the claims.

At least 12 children and young people were killed in a missile strike that hit a football field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights on Saturday.

Israel blamed the attack on Hezbollah and vowed to retaliate, while the Shiite milita has denied having had anything to do with the strike.

UN representatives have called on both side "to exercise maximum restraint" as fears grow that the strike could fuel an all-out war in the region.

Israel and the Hamas-allied Hezbollah have exchanged fire almost daily since the start of the Gaza war on October 7 last year.

The intensity of these clashes in northern Isreal and southern Lebanon has recently increased significantly. There have been fatalities on both sides, raising fears that the conflict could spread wider in the region.

Israel conquered the Golan Heights, a rocky plateau of strategic importance, in 1967 and annexed the area in 1981, although it is considered Syrian territory occupied by Israel under international law.

More than 50,000 people live in the area, with just over half of them Jewish Israelis, along with Druze and a small Alawite minority.

Majdal Shams, the town that was attacked is mainly inhabited by Druze, an Arabic-speaking religious community.