Secretary-General António Guterres and other United Nations officials have condemned Saturday’s rocket attack on a football field in the Golan Heights that killed at least 12 civilians, mainly children and teenagers. Urging restraint, they also warned against escalating violence in the region.

The UN chief condemned the killing of 12 civilians, mainly children and teenagers in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan and conveyed his deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and wished a speedy recovery to all those injured.

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“Civilians, and children in particular, should not continue to bear the burden of the horrific violence plaguing the region,” said a note issued on Sunday by Mr. Guterres’s Spokesperson.

It went on to say that the Secretary-General calls on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and reiterates once again his consistent call on all concerned to avoid any further escalation.

“The exchanges of fire across the Blue Line must cease immediately. All parties must comply with their obligations under international law,” said the note, adding that parties must urgently recommit to the full implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1701 and immediately return to a cessation of hostilities.

[Adopted by the Security Council in 2006, resolution 1701 aimed at ending the war that year between Israel and Hezbollah. It calls for an end to hostilities, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, and the establishment of demilitarized zone.]

Also reacting to the “abhorrent rocket attack”, the UN’s top Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland warned Saturday on X that the region is on the brink; “the world and the region cannot afford another open conflict. I urge all to exercise maximum restraint. The launching of rockets across the Blue Line must cease immediately.”

In a joint statement released on Saturday, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon and the Force Commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), also condemned the attack.

“We deplore the death of civilians – young children and teenagers – in Majdal Shams. Civilians must be protected at all times, said, respectively, envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro.

The two officials urged the parties to exercise maximum restraint and put a stop to the ongoing intensified exchanges of fire, fearing “it could ignite a wider conflagration that would engulf the entire region in a catastrophe beyond belief.”