Funerals have taken place for the young victims of a rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights
At least 12 people, mostly children, were killed on Saturday when a rocket hit a football pitch in Majdal Shams
The White House issued a statement saying the "horrific" strike was from a Hezbollah rocket, launched from an area the group controls
Israel has blamed Hezbollah, but the Lebanese militant group strongly denies any involvement
There have been international calls for restraint from all parties, with fears of an all-out war between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in Lebanon
Early on Sunday, the IDF said it had conducted air strikes against seven Hezbollah targets "deep inside Lebanese territory"
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire regularly since October, when the Israel-Gaza war began
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Hezbollah would "pay a heavy price", but US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he didn't want to see the conflict escalate
According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry 66 Palestinians have been killed and 241 injured over past 24 hours due to Israeli operations in Gaza
Members of the Druze community wept as they carried caskets through the streets of Majdal Shams
Thousands of people gathered on Sunday for the funerals of children and young people killed in a rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
You can watch moments from the processions in the video above.
We've been seeing lots of foreign ministries around the globe cautioning against any actions that might lead to further fighting between Israel and Lebanon.
Here are a few of the latest statements:
The UK "condemns" the attack on the Golan Heights and is concerned about the risk of "further escalation and destabilisation".
France's foreign ministry "condemns in the strongest possible terms" the strike that hit the Druze community in Majdal Shams. France says it "demands that everything possible be done to avoid a new military escalation".
Egypt has warned of the dangers of a new war front opening up between Israel and Lebanon. Its foreign ministry has stressed the importance of supporting Lebanon and "sparing it the scourge of war".
The US has said it does not want the conflict to "escalate" but emphasises Israel's right to defend itself.
As we reported a little earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has returned early to Israel from his trip to the US.
He is having briefings this afternoon and will hold a security cabinet meeting, his office has said in a statement.
As soon as we hear more from the meeting, we'll bring it to you here.
Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the rocket attack on the Druze town Majdal Shams, and accused Israel of being responsible for it.
In a statement, the Lebanese group said "it was not the first time that Israeli batteries and Iron Dome missiles have missed and backfired to hit areas around Majdal Shams and the occupied Syrian Golan [Heights]”.
Hezbollah said the Druze community resided “in a space of peace and security” under the group’s rules of engagement, and so would not be targeted due to their “special status” and the lack of military targets in the area.
The timing of the incident, the size of the explosion, the site of the strike and the types of civilians affected, were "suspicious" it added, saying Israel's accusations against them were a sign of "evading" responsibility for "technical failures".
Image source, GettyThe UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has condemned the rocket attack on the Golan Heights on Saturday.
"The UK condemns the strike in Golan Heights that has tragically claimed at least 12 lives," he posted on X, formerly Twitter, external.
Echoing the sentiment of other nations, he said: "We are deeply concerned about the risk of further escalation and destabilisation."
He also said the UK had been clear that Hezbollah "must cease their attacks".
We've just seen the latest comments from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which says Israeli soldiers "in the Manara settlement" have been targeted today by "the mujahideen of the Islamic resistance".
The group says the target was hit directly, which led to "its burning and the injury of those inside".
Hezbollah also says it has hit Israeli forces "in the Shtula settlement and its surroundings".
Image source, EPAAccording to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, 66 Palestinians have been killed and 241 injured over the past 24 hours due to Israeli operations in Gaza.
Those figures include Israel's strike on a school near Deir al-Balah on Saturday, a city in central Gaza, which kill at least 30 Palestinians and injured more than 100, according to the ministry of health.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Telegram that a Hamas command and control centre was embedded inside the Khadija School.
Gaza's civil defence service said the school was sheltering displaced people.
Hamas said in a statement on Telegram that the report the school was being used for military purposes was "false" and "displaced, sick and wounded people, most of whom were women and children" were killed.
The strike occurred as Israel continues its months-long military campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry.
The war started when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.
BBC diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams has visited the site where 12 people, mostly children, were killed in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday.
There's a crater in the football pitch where the rocket hit, fences blown out and charred children's bikes at the scene.
He talks us through what he can see on the ground in this short video:
'There was a siren but no-one had time to react'
Hezbollah is one of the most heavily-armed, non-state military forces in the world. It is funded and equipped by Iran.
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has claimed that it has 100,000 fighters, although independent estimates vary between 20,000 and 50,000.
Many are well trained and battle hardened, and fought in the Syrian civil war.
Image source, ReutersLebanese civilians say their homes have been hit by Israel as it responds to Hezbollah rockets
It has an estimated 130,000 rockets and missiles, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, external.
Most of its arsenal is made up of small, unguided surface-to-surface artillery rockets.
But it also thought to have anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, as well as guided missiles capable of striking deep inside Israel.
This is much more sophisticated than what Hamas, in the Gaza Strip, has at its disposal.
Image source, ReutersSheikh Hassan Nasrallah is a Shia cleric who has led Hezbollah since 1992
The rocket strike which killed 12 children and young adults in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights has been widely blamed on Hezbollah, so let's take a minute to explain why they would be attacking the area.
Hezbollah is a Shia Muslim organisation which is politically influential and in control of the most powerful armed force in Lebanon.
It was established in the early 1980s by the region's most dominant Shia power, Iran, to oppose Israel.
Since then, Hezbollah has maintained thousands of fighters and a huge missile arsenal in southern Lebanon and continues to oppose Israel's presence in disputed border areas.
You can read more about the political and military force in Lebanon, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by Western states, Israel, Gulf Arab countries and the Arab League, by following this link.
Image source, ReutersSome more now from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has said the US is "in conversations with the government of Israel".
Speaking from Tokyo, Japan, Blinken emphasises Israel's "right to defend its citizens and our determination to make sure that they're able to do that".
He also says the US doesn't want to see the conflict escalate.
"We don't want to see it spread. That has been one of our goals from day one, from 7 October 7," he adds.
As we were reporting earlier, Blinken has said there is "every indication" yesterday's rocket strike in the Golan Heights was launched by Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has strongly denied any involvement.
Early on Sunday, the Israeli military said it had conducted air strikes against seven Hezbollah targets "deep inside Lebanese territory". It is unclear whether there were any casualties.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed retaliation against Hezbollah immediately after Saturday's deadly strike in the Golan Heights, saying the group would "pay a heavy price".
Hours later, the Israeli Air Force said it had struck "terror targets" including "weapons caches and terrorist infrastructure" overnight.
The latest round of talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire in Gaza, and a hostage release deal, are due to begin in Rome.
Those attending include the CIA chief William Burns, Qatar's prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, and the heads of Egypt’s and Israel’s intelligence services.
Last week, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will be sending a delegation to Rome for talks aimed at ending Israel's war with Hamas.
Image source, EPAIf you're just joining us here's a quick summary of what's been happening so far today.
Government ministers attending the funerals of the children and young adults killed in Saturday's attack have been shouted at by mourners, the Times of Israel reports.
“You have no shame. A boy went to play football and didn’t come home,” one man is said to have shouted at ministers Nir Barkat and Idit Silman. His comments were met with cheers.
Thousands of people from the Druze community have gathered for the funerals.
Weeping men, dressed in traditional clothes, carried the white-covered caskets through the streets of Majdal Shams, where the strike happened.
Earlier, several women dressed in black abaya robes cried as they laid flowers on the caskets, an AFP correspondent has reported.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Image source, Israeli Foreign MinistryAs we've been reporting, funerals are taking place for those killed in Saturday's rocket strike on a football pitch in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The names of 11 of the 12 people known to have died have now been released by Israeli military and the local Druze community.
They are: Fajr Laith Abu Saleh (16), Ameer Rabeea Abu Saleh (16), Hazem Akram Abu Saleh (15), John Wadeea Ibrahim (13), Iseel Nasha'at Ayoub (12), Finis Adham Safadi (11), Yazan Nayeif Abu Saleh (12), Alma Ayman Fakhr al-Din (11), Naji Taher al-Halabi (11), and Milad Muadad al-Sha'ar (10).
Another victim is Nathem Fakher Saeb from the village of Ein Kinia.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived back in Israel following his visit to the US, and is heading for a security assessment and Security Cabinet discussion, a statement from his office says.
While in the US, he met US President Joe Biden as well as Vice President Kamala Harris - who is tipped to become the Democratic Party's presidential candidate - and former President Donald Trump.
Netanyahu and Biden discussed efforts towards a ceasefire deal and the release of hostages and also held a closed-door meeting with the families of seven US citizens still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
Hugo Bachega
reporting from Beirut
For months, life in Lebanon has been dominated by the question of whether this country will be dragged into another war with Israel by Hezbollah.
The group started the strikes on 8 October, the day after the deadly Hamas attack on Israel, saying they are in support for Palestinians in Gaza.
Most of the violence has been contained to border areas, and both Israel and Hezbollah have given indications they were trying to avoid an all-out conflict, which could have catastrophic consequences.
But there has always been the risk of miscalculation. Saturday’s attack on Majdal Shams, the deadliest in the current violence between Israel and Hezbollah, could have been just that.
Israel has blamed the group, which has denied involvement.
But Hezbollah, seen as a significantly more formidable foe than Hamas, has been preparing for another major confrontation with Israel since their last one, in 2006.
Image source, ReutersFighting has been taking place on the Israeli-Lebanese border for months
Hezbollah has about 150,000 rockets and missiles, according to Western estimates, which could overwhelm Israel’s sophisticated air defence systems.
The arsenal also includes attack drones and precision guided missiles capable of striking deep inside Israel.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised that Hezbollah will “pay a heavy price which it has not paid up to now” for what happened.
Officials have repeatedly described the near-daily cross-border attacks by the group as unacceptable and, under growing pressure to act to allow the return of tens of thousands of displaced residents, they have threatened to do to Beirut what they have done to Gaza.
Lebanon is now waiting to see how Israel will respond. Israel has repeatedly hit areas in the south and in the Bekaa Valey, areas where Hezbollah operates.
Its promised strong response could target places that, so far, have been untouched by the war, and open up an unpredictable and dangerous phase in the fighting.
Image source, ReutersUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said there is "every indication" the rocket that hit the Golan Heights was launched by Hezbollah.
Blinken also says the US stands by Israel's right to defend its citizens and says a ceasefire in Gaza would be an opportunity to bring lasting calm to the border between Israel and Lebanon.
He adds that the US is in conversation with Israel and doesn't want to see the conflict escalate.
Paul Adams
reporting from the Golan Heights
When Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s hard-line finance minister, arrives the crowd swells and the sense of anger mounts.
He’s accosted by angry locals.
Some are demanding a decisive response against Hezbollah.
Some accuse the government of abandoning the Golan Heights.
Smotrich tries to offer his condolences, even to hug those around him.
But it seems not everyone is interested in his sympathy.
In the middle of a large adjacent football pitch, 12 empty black chairs commemorate the lost children.
Fighting back the tears, 26-year-old Ugarit Abu Assad, from nearby Buqata, says she is "afraid of the consequences of all out war.
“A lot of people are going to die.”
Ugarit Abu Assad says she fears a major escalation