Israel's security cabinet on Sunday authorized a military response against Hezbollah over the rocket strike that killed 12 children and teens playing soccer in the occupied Golan Heights.
The move fueled fears that the deadly Saturday attack, the worst against Israeli civilians since the Oct. 7 slaughter that started the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza, could escalate into a broader, regional conflict in the Mideast.
Hezbollah adamantly denied responsibility for Saturday's killings in the Druze Arab village of Majdal Shams after earlier announcing a series of strikes against Israeli military targets.
The death toll reported Sunday was one more than initially reported.
Following Sunday's security cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it had "authorized the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister to decide on the manner and timing of the response," Reuters reported.
On Saturday, Netanyahu vowed that Hezbollah would "pay a heavy price for this attack, one that it has not paid so far."
Israel said Sunday that the rocket that hit Majdal Shams was made in Iran and was fired from an area north of the village of Chebaa in southern Lebanon.
"The rocket that murdered our boys and girls was an Iranian rocket and Hezbollah is the only terror organization which has those in its arsenal," Israel's Foreign Ministry said.
Some Druze are Israeli citizens but it wasn't immediately clear if the victims were.
The White House also blamed Hezbollah for the killings, saying, "It was their rocket, and launched from an area they control."
Thousands of mourners, many wearing traditional high white and red Druze headgear, surrounded the victims as their caskets were carried through the village before burial.
"A heavy tragedy, a dark day has come to Majdal Shams," Dolan Abu Saleh, head of the Majdal Shams local council, said in remarks broadcast on Israeli television.
In addition to those killed, 20 others were wounded, according to the Israeli military, the Associated Press said.
Village resident Anan Abu Saleh said he felt "darkness inside and out," according to AP.
"Nothing like this happened here," Abu Saleh said. "There's no way to explain this. I saw children, I don't want to say what I saw, but it's horrible, really horrible. We need more security."
