Nine dead in rocket attack on Israeli-occupied Golan - reports

At least nine people have been killed after an attack which hit a football pitch in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Israeli media report.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a rocket fell on the Majdal Shams area of the territory.

Most of the casualties are believed to be children and teenagers.

The IDF blamed Hezbollah for the attack but Hezbollah spokesman Mohamad Afif denied “any relation to the Majdal Shams incident".

"All accusations [of the group’s involvement] are false”.

Israel's military and Hezbollah have been exchanging cross-border fire since the Israel-Hamas war began in October.

Verified video shows crowds of people on a football pitch and stretchers being rushed to waiting ambulances.

Majdal Shams is one of four villages in the Golan where about 25,000 Druze people live.

They were offered Israeli citizenship when the Golan Heights was annexed from Syria in 1981, but refused. They can study and work in Israel, but not vote.