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White House Blames Hezbollah for Deadly Majdal Shams Rocket Attack, Reaffirms ‘Ironclad’ Support for Israel
A person mourns as he embraces the picture of his loved one killed at a soccer pitch by a rocket Israel says was fired from Lebanon, in Majdal Shams, a Druze village in the Golan Heights, July 29, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
The White House has condemned the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah for a rocket attack on Majdal Shams over the weekend that killed 12 children, reaffirming its “ironclad” support for Israel’s security.
“We have been in continuous discussions with Israeli and Lebanese counterparts since the horrific attack yesterday in northern Israel that killed a number of children playing soccer,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. “This attack was conducted by Lebanese Hezbollah. It was their rocket, and launched from an area they control. It should be universally condemned.”
On Saturday, Hezbollah struck a soccer field in Majdal Shams, a small Druze town in the Golan Heights, a strategic region on Israel’s northern border previously controlled by Syria. The attack killed 12 children.
Majdal Shams is located at the foot of Mount Hermon, directly in the line of fire from the rocket launch site in Shebaa in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah denied responsibility for the strike when it emerged that the victims of the attack were Arab Druze children, although the rocket that hit Majdal Shams was the same one the terrorist group claimed responsibility for firing at the Hermon region at 7:30 pm local time.
Both the US and Israel have also said that Hezbollah was responsible for the strike.
“Hezbollah started firing on Israel on Oct. 8, claiming solidarity with Hamas, another Iranian-backed terrorist group,” the White House said in its statement, noting how Hezbollah terrorists have been firing rockets at northern Israel daily from southern Lebanon since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre. “Our support for Israel’s security is ironclad and unwavering against all Iran-backed threats, including Hezbollah. The United States is also working on a diplomatic solution along the Blue Line that will end all attacks once and for all, and allow citizens on both sides of the border to safely return to their homes.”
More than 80,000 Israelis evacuated Israel’s north in October due to constant drone, rocket, and missile fire from Hezbollah and have since been unable to return to their homes. The majority of those spent the past nine months residing in hotels in safer areas of the country.
Members of the Druze community have vowed to avenge the strike on Majdal Shams. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu similarly stated on Monday that Israel’s response to the attack “will be severe.”
“These children are our children, they are the children of all of us,” Netanyahu said. “The State of Israel will not and cannot put this to rest. Our response will come, and it will be severe.”
The Biden administration has urged Israel not target the Lebanese capital of Beirut in response to the Saturday strike. The White House fears that Israel’s retaliation could lead to an escalation in the conflict, resulting in a broader war breaking out across the Middle East.
US Special Envoy Amos Hochstein reportedly warned the Jewish state to be careful in its response to Hezbollah.
“We definitely think an IDF [Israel Defense Forces] strike on Beirut is a potential red line for Hezbollah,” a US official told Axios.
Hezbollah wields significant political and military influence across Lebanon.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday to express condolences for the weekend strike and urged Israel to exercise caution in its response.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that during their discussion, Blinken “emphasized the importance of preventing escalation of the conflict and discussed efforts to reach a diplomatic solution to allow citizens on both sides of the border between Israel and Lebanon to return home.”
“The secretary reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iranian-backed terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah,” Miller added, echoing the White House statement.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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