An Israeli rescue official on Saturday said that 10 people were killed in a rocket strike on a town in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, in what would be the deadliest attack on an Israeli target since the fighting with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah began.

Hezbollah quickly denied any role in the strike, which the Israeli military blamed on the militant group. Eli Bin, the head of the Magen David Adom rescue service, said earlier that those hit were between 10 and 20 years old.

The strike on a soccer field raises fears of an all-out war between the foes, who have been exchanging cross-border fire since the start of the war in Gaza. The Israeli military confirmed that all 10 people killed in the rocket attack were aged between 10 to 20.

The strike on a soccer field wounded several others hours after an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon killed three members of the militant Hezbollah group. Hezbollah chief spokesman Mohammed Afif told The Associated Press that the group “categorically denies carrying out an attack on Majdal Shams”.

Chief spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari asserted to journalists that “Hezbollah is lying”.

The strike is the deadliest attack on an Israeli target since the fighting between the two foes erupted in October.

The Israeli military said in a statement on Saturday: “The Hezbollah terrorist organisation is behind the rocket launch at a soccer field in Majdal Shams which caused multiple civilian casualties, including children, earlier this evening,” the statement said.

Israel’s paramedic service initially reported 11 were wounded, 9 critically, and all between the ages of 10 and 20.