The Washington Post issued an official apology for its front-page headline regarding the Hezbollah missile strike in Majdal Shams that killed 12 children and teenagers. The headline published on Sunday read "Israel hits targets in Lebanon" below a photo of the funerals of the victims of the attack the previous day on the Druze village in Israel - a photo that implies that Israel carried out an attack that killed the victims being mourned over, without any mention of Hezbollah.
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The funeral of 12 children killed by a Hezbollah rocket in the Druze village of Majdal Shams
(Photo: Jalaa Marey/ AFP)
Israel's Foreign Ministry harshly attacked the respected American newspaper for the misleading publication. David Saranga, director of the Digital Diplomacy Bureau at the Foreign Ministry of Foreign Affairs, posted the headline on ministry's X account and wrote: Hezbollah murdered 12 children from northern Israel (the photo on the front page is from one child’s funeral) but look at the headline. A new low from the Washington Post."
Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein sent a strong protest to the Washington Post office in Israel; a similar protest was sent to the newspaper's office from the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
In addition, Democratic Congressman Richie Torres of New York also attacked the Washington Post in a tweet about the headline.
Following the fierce Israeli protests, the newspaper realized it was wrong and on Tuesday published an official apology under the Editor's Note heading. The apology reads: "The headline and subheadline that accompanied a July 29 Page One photo and article about Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon did not provide adequate context."
"The headlines should have noted that the Israeli strikes were a response to a rocket strike from Lebanon that killed 12 teenagers and children in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights," the apology continued. "The photo depicted mourning for one of those victims, as the caption noted."