Israeli security forces and medics transport casualties from a site where a reported strike from Lebanon fell in Majdal Shams village in Israel on July 27, 2024. (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller announced that Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken had a conversation with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday. In this discussion, Blinken reiterated the United States’ unwavering commitment to Israel’s security, particularly against threats posed by Iranian-backed terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah. He stressed the importance of avoiding further escalation of the conflict and discussed diplomatic efforts to ensure that civilians on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border can safely return home.
Additionally, The Jerusalem Post reported that French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Macron expressed France’s strong commitment to preventing a new escalation in the region. He mentioned that France is actively communicating with all parties involved in the conflict to avoid further violence. Unlike Germany and Britain, France has not classified Hezbollah’s entire organization as a terrorist entity, a stance that Israel and the U.S. have urged France to reconsider.
In response to the rising tensions and potential for major conflict, Air France has suspended flights to and from Beirut. Other airlines, including Germany’s Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines, and Eurowings, have also halted their services to Beirut, anticipating a possible major escalation in the region.
People stand by damaged bicycles at a site where a reported strike from Lebanon fell in Majdal Shams village in Israel on July 27, 2024. (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)
Israel’s Druze community is grappling with profound grief following the recent Hezbollah attack.
On Sunday, the village of Majdal Shams, predominantly Druze, was engulfed in scenes of sorrow, shock, and devastation as residents held funerals for the young victims of the Hezbollah rocket strike. The attack, which occurred on Saturday, targeted a children’s soccer field and resulted in the deaths of at least 12 individuals and injuries to approximately 29 others, most of whom were between the ages of 10 and 20. The victims were engaged in an innocent game of soccer when the rockets struck.
The Druze community, which traces its roots to the Biblical figure Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, has a notable presence in Israel. Druze individuals often hold prominent positions in both public and military sectors. The relationship between Jewish and Druze soldiers is described as the “covenant of blood,” reflecting a deep bond of mutual respect and solidarity. Although the Druze speak Arabic, they are not Muslim and are known for their secrecy regarding their religious practices, according to the TPS news agency.
TRUMP GREETS NETANYAHU AT MAR-A-LAGO, SAYS WORLD WAR III COULD HAPPEN IF HARRIS WINS
Mourners attend a funeral held on July 28, 2024 for 10 of the victims of yesterday’s rocket attack in Majdal Shams. Twelve young people were killed in a rocket attack on a soccer pitch in this Druze Arab community. Israel blamed the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah for the attack. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)
Speaking at a press conference on Sunday in Japan, Blinken said “I emphasize (Israel’s) right to defend its citizens and our determination to make sure that they’re able to do that,” “But we also don’t want to see the conflict escalate. We don’t want to see it spread,” according to Reuters.
Blinken also said he was in talks with the U.S. and all but confirmed that it was Hezbollah that fired the rocket from Lebanon. U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said on Sunday, “This attack was conducted by Lebanese Hezbollah. It was their rocket, and launched from an area they control. It should be universally condemned.”
ODDS OF ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH WAR ‘INEVITABLE,’ EXPERTS FEAR: ‘TOTALLY PESSIMISTIC’
The scene of a deadly Hezbollah rocket strike on a soccer field in the Israeli Druze village of Majdal Shams on July 28, 2024. The strike killed 12 and injured more than 30, with most of the casualties between the ages of 10-20. (Erez Ben Simon/TPS-IL)
The failure to identify the U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hezbollah as the perpetrator of the Saturday massacre in the X post of the American Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew sparked criticism on the social media platform on Sunday.
David Wurmser, a former senior adviser for nonproliferation and Middle East strategy for former Vice President Dick Cheney, wrote in response to Lew’s message on X, “If I didn’t know better by your statement, it appears the attack kind of spontaneously happened by an evil missile acting on its own.”
The European Union’s foreign policy head, Josep Borrell, faced similar criticism for not pinning the blame on Hezbollah for its use of an Iranian rocket to murder children.
During an operational briefing on Sunday, Israel’s Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said of Hezbollah that “despite their ridiculous denials … they will bear a heavy price for their actions.”
Israeli security forces and medics transport casualties along with local residents, at a site where a reported strike from Lebanon fell in Majdal Shams village in Israel on July 27, 2024. (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)
Hezbollah-linked media was first to report Hezbollah’s boasting about the attack, only for the terror group to later claim it was not them who did it once the barbarity of the attack became clear. The Israelis put the blame squarely on the U.S.-designated terrorist group.
The IDF said approximately 30 projectiles were identified crossing into Israel from Lebanon on Saturday. The U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hezbollah is the de facto ruler over Lebanon.
HEZBOLLAH BOMBARDS ISRAEL WITH ROCKETS, DRONES
Israel’s TPS news agency reported that the IDF raised its readiness for war. During a tour of the area, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said, “We are greatly increasing our readiness for the next stage of fighting in the north, as we are simultaneously fighting in Gaza. We know how to attack even very far from the State of Israel. There will be more challenges, we will raise our readiness.
“We know exactly where the rocket was launched from. We examined here on the wall of the soccer field the remains of the rocket, and we know to say that it is a Falaq rocket with a 53-kilogram warhead. This is a Hezbollah rocket. And whoever fires such a rocket into an urban area wants to kill civilians, wants to kill children,” Halevi said.
An Iranian military truck carries surface-to-air missiles past a portrait of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a parade on the occasion of the country’s annual army day on April 18, 2018. (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)
FDD Iran Senior Fellow Behnam Ben Taleblu said the rocket came from Iran, “There should be no surprise that the munition Hezbollah fired at Israel is Iranian in design and origin. After all, when Iranian officials say death to Israel, they mean it. The weapon used in the latest attack is a spin-stabilized artillery rocket called the Falaq-1, which has a range of 10km while carrying a 50kg warhead.”
