TOKYO — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday he does not want to see an escalation of conflict on Israel's northern border after Israel accused Hezbollah of killing 12 children and teenagers in a rocket attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Israel said on Sunday it would strike hard against the Iran-backed group after the incident. Blinken said the U.S. was in talks with Israel about the incident and the indications were that Lebanon-based Hezbollah fired the rocket.

Hezbollah denied any responsibility for the attack.

"I emphasize [Israel's] right to defend its citizens and our determination to make sure that they're able to do that," Blinken said during a news conference in Tokyo. "But we also don't want to see the conflict escalate. We don't want to see it spread."

Blinken said he was saddened by the loss of life and said reaching a cease-fire deal on the war in Gaza can help to calm the situation on Israel's border with Lebanon.

"It's so important that we help defuse that conflict, not only prevent it from escalating, prevent it from spreading, but to defuse it because you have so many people in both countries, in both Israel and Lebanon, who've been displaced from their homes," Blinken said.