The Washington Post apologized Tuesday for its front page Monday that featured mourners of an 11-year-old boy killed in a Hezbollah rocket attack — along with a scathing headline about Israeli airstrikes.
The headline, “Israel hits its targets in Lebanon,” directly below the photo of heartbroken loved ones draped over the coffin of Alma Ayman Fakhr al-Din, 11, “did not provide the proper context,” the newspaper acknowledged in an editor’s note Tuesday. . .
“The headlines should have pointed out that the Israeli strikes were a response to a rocket attack from Lebanon that killed 12 teenagers and children in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
“The photo depicts mourning for one of those victims, as the caption noted.”
Alma and 11 other youths were killed in the Hezbollah attack on a soccer field on Saturday.
Another 40 people were wounded in the attack, which was the deadliest against Israel since the October 7 Hamas terror attack.
The mainstream daily was quickly criticized online for its gaffe, including from the Israel Defense Forces, which posted on X: “You can see grieving family members burying children killed by Hezbollah in the Madjal massacre Shams. If you happen to understand something else from their title, you may not be the problem.”
“This is an image of a funeral of a girl KILLED IN ISRAEL BY A HEZBOLLAH ROCKET FROM LEBANON, so why is the Washington Post headline backwards?” Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy added to X along with a screenshot of the front page.
Pro-Israel Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) also questioned the paper’s decision to label Israel the “aggressor” under an image of a child killed by the terrorist group.
One online commentator accused the Jeff Bezos-owned paper of being “a propaganda arm of Hamas since October.”
The horrific attack on the Golan Heights occurred as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was wrapping up his visit to Washington, DC.
Netanyahu raced home on an earlier flight to address the tragedy – and vowed that Israel “will not let this pass in silence”.
Despite the prime minister’s promise of revenge, some families of the young victims refused to meet with him, Haaretz reported.
Local officials in Majdal Shams also allegedly demanded that government officials not attend children’s funerals – while those who did were jeered by mourners.
The Israeli military is investigating why the country’s famous Iron Dome missile defense system failed to intercept the missile, which was identified as an Iranian-made Falaq with a 117-kilogram warhead.
The military said the missile’s flight time – only about six miles from the Lebanese city of Chebaa in the Golan Heights – may have been too short for the defense system to launch and intercept the missile.
Hezbollah immediately denied the attack.
It was not clear what the group’s motives might have been for targeting the Druze community in the Golan Heights, many of whom see themselves as citizens of Syria.
Druze leaders in Lebanon, Syria and Israel criticized what they saw as efforts by the Israeli government to drive a wedge between the tight-knit community after the attack.
“Of course, Majdal Shams was not targeted. There are many Israeli military bases around the city. I expect this threat was headed their way,” said Nabeeh Abu Saleh, a paramedic from the city who rushed to the scene on Saturday.
One of Abu Saleh’s nephews was killed in the attack and another was wounded, he said. At the scene, some parts of the body were thrown over 300 meters from the crash site.
“We buried our children. We don’t want revenge. We have family in Lebanon, in Syria and we have brothers here in Israel,” he insisted.
By postal wire
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