A heavy Hezbollah rocket attack hit Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights on Saturday. Israel said it had identified approximately 30 projectiles from Lebanon and blamed the attack on Hezbollah, with Hezbollah denying fault. 

The attack hit a football field, killing at least 12 people and injuring 29 in the Druze neighborhood. Majdal Shams hosts about 25,000 members of the Arabic-speaking Druze religious and ethnic group, one of four neighborhoods in the Golan Heights that Druze call home.

Prime Minister Netanyahu announced he will be cutting his trip to the United States short and returning to Israel due to the attack. Netanyahu stated, “I can say that the State of Israel will not be silent about this. We will not put this off the agenda,” and his office said the prime minister “made it clear” that “Hezbollah will pay a heavy price for (the attack) that it has not paid so far.” The possibility of war in the north of Israel, which has been on the horizon for months, is far more likely after this attack.