Residents mourn 12 children killed in rocket strike in Golan Heights

Residents in Majdal Shams, a Druze town located in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, are deeply devastated after a rocket strike killed 12 youngsters on a football pitch, with Israeli officials calling for retaliation against Hezbollah, the Lebanese group blamed for the attack.

The rocket strike on Saturday hit a football pitch in Majdal Shams during a football training session, tragically claiming the lives of 12 children and teenagers, all under the age of 16.

The death toll could potentially increase as more young people are admitted to hospitals with life-threatening injuries. The loss of life is always deeply devastating, especially within a tight-knit community where everyone is closely connected, intensifying the tragedy.

"It's hard, it's painful for all of us, because like me, I used to come here a lot, almost every day. And here in our community, if you lose one, we all lose one. We are so close together, and yesterday we lost 12. That's a heavy hit for us," said Adham Abu Salah, a resident in Majdal Shams.

Despite international appeals to prevent further regional escalation, Israel's security cabinet gathered Sunday night to deliberate on retaliation measures against Hezbollah following the rocket strike.

According to a statement issued following the meeting, the cabinet ministers had granted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant the authority "to decide on the manner of the response against Hezbollah, and on its timing."

"This infamy happened yesterday against this village. The state of Israel, and the Israeli army, will find a way, according to our decision-making process to respond," said Olivier Rafowicz, a spokesman of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Hezbollah, which Israel holds responsible for the rocket attack, has been engaged in conflicts with Israeli forces along the Israel-Lebanon border since October last year. The group has denied involvement in the rocket strike.

Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on October 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack on Israel the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.

Residents mourn 12 children killed in rocket strike in Golan Heights

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced on Thursday that it would slash key interest rates by 25 basis points in a bid to wind down the restrictive monetary policy.

Effective from March 12, the interest rates on the deposit facility, the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility will be decreased to 2.50 percent, 2.65 percent and 2.90 percent respectively, said the central bank in a statement.

The disinflation process is well on track, with headline inflation averaging 2.3 percent in 2025, 1.9 percent in 2026 and 2.0 percent in 2027, the ECB said.

The decision to keep on cutting rates came at a time when the economy in the eurozone is facing increasing uncertainties.

In its latest edition of the staff projections on Thursday, the ECB lowered its forecast for economic growth in the eurozone to 0.9 percent for 2025, 1.2 percent for 2026 and 1.3 percent for 2027.

This marks a downward revision from the ECB's forecast in December last year, which had projected 1.1 percent growth in 2025 and 1.4 percent in 2026, while the 2027 outlook remains unchanged.

The ECB attributed the weaker growth outlook for 2025 and 2026 to declining exports and sluggish investment, citing high trade policy uncertainty and broader economic instability as key factors.

ECB cuts interest rates by 25 basis points