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Marcus Mumford to perform at controversial joint Israeli-Palestinian memorial event
(JTA) — Marcus Mumford, the lead singer and guitarist of British folk rock band Mumford and Sons, will perform in a pre-recorded music video at a joint Israeli-Palestinian memorial service in Tel Aviv next week, giving a celebrity imprimatur to an event that draws perennial controversy in Israel.
Mumford has been involved with one of the event’s organizers, the Parents Circle-Families Forum, which brings together bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families, since 2014 when he met its Jewish cofounder, a mother whose son had been killed by a Palestinian sniper. He has visited Israel and the West Bank and performed in events promoting coexistence in Israel and the United States, including with his longtime friend, the Palestinian rapper Tamer Nafar.
The April 24 ceremony, which marks the beginning of Israel’s Memorial Day, or Yom HaZikaron, has drawn backlash in Israel for commemorating Palestinian victims of the conflict alongside Israelis killed in war and terror attacks. This year, as in previous years, Israel’s defense minister has declined to issue permits to allow Palestinians to cross from the West Bank into Israel to attend the event, citing “the complex security situation” in the West Bank.
The defense minister, Yoav Gallant, issued his decision at an especially tense time in Israel, which has experienced escalating Israeli-Palestinian violence alongside weeks of protests against the government’s proposal to sap the Israeli Supreme Court of much of its power. Last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Gallant — and subsequently reversed that decision — after Gallant called for a pause in the court reform.
The other group organizing the memorial, Combatants for Peace — which is comprised of former Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants who now advocate for nonviolence — attributed Gallant’s decision to his near-termination.
“Gallant is frightened by the threat of dismissal & has fallen in line with the silencing of voices,” Combatants for Peace said in a statement on Twitter. “The ceremony is how hundreds of bereaved families remember their loved ones. It represents the future that is possible here – a joint future of dignity & human rights for ALL.”
In the past, decisions like Gallant’s have been overturned by Israel’s Supreme Court, which has allowed West Bank Palestinians to attend the event. The groups organizing the event will be petitioning the Supreme Court to overturn this decision as well.
(The event is a case study of sorts in the conflict between the Supreme Court, which says it is upholding basic rights, and the Israeli right wing, which believes the court’s decisions contravene the will of Israel’s elected government. After the court reversed a ban on Palestinian participants in the ceremony in 2019, Netanyahu said in a statement, “The High Court’s decision is mistaken and disappointing. There should not be a ceremony that equates the blood of our sons to the blood of terrorists. That’s why I refused to allow the entry of the ceremony participants, and I believe the High Court should not have intervened in my decision.”)
Mumford is not the first celebrity to participate in the Israeli-Palestinian memorial ceremony. Actor Richard Gere appeared via video in 2021, and last year’s ceremony featured popular Jewish Israeli actress and comedian Rivka Michaeli and Arab Israeli actor George Iskandar, along with live and recorded musical performances.
“Today more than ever it is important to recognize that two peoples call this place their homeland, and it is time to act together to realize this partnership and create a better future here for everyone,” Combatants for Peace said in a statement thanking Mumford for his appearance. “When we collectively remember our loved ones lost in conflict, we do just that.”
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The post Marcus Mumford to perform at controversial joint Israeli-Palestinian memorial event appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Pete Hegseth Pledges Retribution After Islamist Gunmen in Syria Kills 2 US Soldiers and Civilian, Injuring 3
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on US President Donald Trump’s budget request for the Department of Defense, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
i24 News – Two US Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in an Islamic State attack on Saturday in Palmyra, Syria, where they were supporting counterterrorism operations, the Pentagon said.
Three others were wounded, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the attacker was killed by partner forces.
The Syrian Interior Ministry said that shooter in the deadly attack in Palmyra was a “member of the Syrian security forces who was influence by extremist ideology.”
President Donald Trump posted that “We mourn the loss of three Great American Patriots in Syria, two soldiers, and one Civilian Interpreter. Likewise, we pray for the three injured soldiers who, it has just been confirmed, are doing well.”
“This was an ISIS attack against the US, and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them. The President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is extremely angry and disturbed by this attack. There will be very serious retaliation. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
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Israel Says It Kills Senior Hamas Commander Raed Saed in Gaza
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a car in Gaza City, December 13, 2025.REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
The Israeli military said it killed senior Hamas commander Raed Saed, one of the architects of the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, in a strike on a car in Gaza City on Saturday.
It was the highest-profile assassination of a senior Hamas figure since a Gaza ceasefire deal came into effect in October.
In a joint statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said Saed was targeted in response to an attack by Hamas in which an explosive device injured two soldiers earlier on Saturday.
The attack on the car in Gaza City killed five people and wounded at least 25 others, according to Gaza health authorities. There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas or medics that Saed was among the dead.
HAMAS SAYS ATTACK VIOLATES CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT
An Israeli military official described Saed as a high-ranked Hamas member who helped establish and advance the group’s weapons production network.
“In recent months, he operated to reestablish Hamas’ capabilities and weapons manufacturing, a blatant violation of the ceasefire,” the official said.
Hamas sources have also described him as the second-in-command of the group’s armed wing, after Izz eldeen Al-Hadad.
Saed used to head Hamas’ Gaza City battalion, one of the group’s largest and best-equipped, those sources said.
Hamas, in a statement, condemned the attack as a violation of the ceasefire agreement but did not say whether Saed was hurt and stopped short of threatening retaliation.
The October 10 ceasefire has enabled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to Gaza City’s ruins. Israel has pulled troops back from city positions, and aid flows have increased.
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Hezbollah Chief: Disarmament Would Be ‘Death Sentence’ for Lebanon
Lebanon’s Hezbollah Chief Naim Qassem gives a televised speech from an unknown location, July 30, 2025, in this screen grab from video. Photo: Al Manar TV/REUTERS TV/via REUTERS
i24 News – Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said on Saturday that it was not the responsibility of the Shiite terror group “to prevent aggression,” but rather the Lebanese state’s, and it is the responsibility of Hezbollah to engage “when the state and army fail to do so.”
In a recorded televised statement, Qassem sarcastically posed the question whether it was not Hezbollah that should be demanding the Lebanese Army’s disarmament if the latter fails to stop “Israel’s ongoing aggression.”
On the issue of disarming Hezbollah, Qassem said that disarming it in the manner currently proposed is a death sentence for Lebanon.
“Even if the sky falls, we will not be disarmed, not even if the entire world unites against Lebanon. We will not allow this and it will not happen,” Qassem said.