Former President Donald Trump, also the current 2024 Republican presidential candidate, meets with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on July 26, 2024. Credit: Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO.
“Today’s attack on Israel cannot be forgotten,” former U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Saturday, after Hezbollah terrorists fired a rocket that killed 12 youths, and wounded dozens, in the Israeli Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights.
“It will go down as another moment in history created by a weak and ineffective United States president and vice president,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account. “With time, this situation will only get worse for our country.”
The attack must “galvanize the Republican Party, Democrats, independents, conservatives, progressives, Libertarians and everybody else to put strength, respect and power back into the United States,” the Republican nominee for president added. “This attack, just like the attack of Oct. 7, or the Ukraine/Russia War, would have never happened if I were president.”
Trump added that it is a “dangerous and terrible time for the world, and it is almost the entire fault of the incompetent Biden-Harris administration. It must be changed, and quickly.”
Kamala Harris, the U.S. vice president and presumptive Democratic nominee, had not commented on the attack at press time. Neither had U.S. President Joe Biden. The White House National Security Council condemned the attack.
Members of Congress and world leaders commented on the tragedy, with references to the death toll varying depending on what had been reported at the time that they posted about it on social media. (Some news reports also called the land “Israeli-controlled,” although the Golan Heights is part of Israel.)
“My heart breaks for the Israelis, including many children, who were killed in Hezbollah’s violent attack against a playground and soccer field in Majdal Shams,” wrote Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), chair of the House Republican Conference. “The images from the attack are a horrific reminder of the barbaric Iranian-backed existential threats that Israel faces daily.”
“Israel has a legal right and moral obligation to protect its civilians from Hezbollah’s attacks,” added the congresswoman, who recently penned a letter with Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) demanding that the Biden administration support Israel’s right to defend its borders against the terror organization. “Israel is on the front lines of Iran’s violent ambition to destroy the west and our shared values.”
“The Biden-Harris administration must immediately end all of the holds they have on weapons shipments to Israel and put pressure on the United Nations to enforce UNSCR 1701 and demilitarize Hezbollah,” Stefanik added. “The Biden-Harris administration’s abdication of leadership on the world stage emboldened Iran and our great ally Israel is facing the consequences. We must return to President Trump’s peace through strength policies.”
Hagerty wrote that it was a “terrible tragedy today in Israel.”
“Rather than unequivocally back Israel’s right to self-defense, the Biden-Harris administration’s constant undermining of Israel is what has empowered Hezbollah’s terrorism,” the senator added. “This is what Rep. Stefanik and I were concerned about.”
“I mourn the at least 10 children killed by a rocket attack in the Druze village of Majdal Shams. This is further evidence that Israelis are under siege by Iran and its proxies including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis,” wrote Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).
Israeli rescue forces seen at the site of a Hezbollah missile attack in the Druze village of Majdal Shams, July 27, 2024. Photo by Michael Giladi/Flash90.
“Further, this attack is another example of the Iran-sponsored reign of terror in the north of Israel where tens of thousands have been displaced since Oct. 7. Since Oct. 8, Hezbollah has fired over 6,000 rockets into Israel,” added the congressman, who is seeking his 23rd term.
“Hezbollah must cease these attacks and allow tens of thousands of Israelis to return home,” he said. “I stand with Israel against terror and mourn with the Israeli people. No country can allow its citizens to be under this constant barrage.”
“I’m appalled by this attack from Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist organization, that has now left 11 dead, many children,” wrote Rep. Rep Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.). “It’s clear that right now, more than ever, we must stand by our ally Israel in her fight against terrorism.”
“I am disgusted at Hezbollah’s attack on a children’s playground in Majdal Shams, Israel,” wrote Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.). “Iranian terrorist puppets must be destroyed. The United States continues to stand with the Israeli people who are under constant attack.”
“Iran and Hezbollah have done so much damage to Lebanon, and they continue to target civilians in Israel. Today their rockets hit a playground and killed at least 10 children. This is awful, and has to end,” wrote Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio).
“Major military operations in Gaza have come to an end. Yet these deadly attacks continue in the north. Iran and Hezbollah have been attacking northern Israel since Oct. 8. No area is off limits to them. Rarely, in fact, do they target military assets. It’s almost always civilians,” Landsman added. “What does Israel want from Iran and Hezbollah? To stop being attacked. That’s it. If you believe in Israel’s right to exist, please condemn these attacks.”
“We stand with Israel and oppose Hezbollah along with all terrorists who murder innocent people,” wrote Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.).
Devastating war looming
Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote that “the Middle East is now potentially hours away from the most devastating war in its bloody history.”
“A Israel-Hezbollah war would likely yield a shocking number of fatalities and destruction. The United States knew this day would come. Our leaders have failed,” Schanzer wrote. “Hezbollah has fired at Israel since Oct. 8. Israel has wanted to respond, especially after 100,000 citizens were forced from their homes in the north. The Biden White House has restrained the Israelis, but offered no solutions. This moment was inevitable, with Hezbollah unrestrained.”
“So now the question is what the Biden White House will do once the situation escalates. Will they once again take steps to restrain Israel? This is what we have seen consistently in Gaza and Lebanon. This has only emboldened Iran and its proxies,” he added. “Remind me the definition of insanity?”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a preliminary consultation with his Military Secretary, Maj.-Gen. Roman Gofman after the disaster in Majdal Shams. Credit: Courtesy.
Marty Morantz, a Jewish member of the Canadian Parliament, noted that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has yet to comment.
“Today Hezbollah, a terrorist proxy of Iran, bombed a soccer field in a Druze community killing and injuring children. This barbaric attack is pure evil and needs to be widely condemned,” Morantz wrote. “Israel is our ally and yet what do we hear from the prime minister? Nothing, silence. Say something!”
Josep Borrell Fontelles, European Union high representative for foreign affairs, wrote that there were “shocking images from the soccer field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams.”
“I strongly condemn this bloodbath. We need an independent international investigation into this unacceptable incident,” he wrote. “We urge all parties to exercise utmost restraint and avoid further escalation.”
Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran, noted that the E.U. leader didn’t mention “the word Hezbollah, which the E.U. still does not designate in its entirety as a terrorist organization.”
“Israel was just attacked, but the E.U. is calling for restraint,” Brodsky wrote. “It’s like counseling a person who is in the middle of being assaulted with a deadly object to restrain himself.”
Argentinian President Javier Milei stated in Spanish that his office expresses sympathy with the Israeli people following the terror attack. He added that Argentina condemns the threats the Jewish state faces daily in the “most energetic” terms.
Milei noted that Hezbollah was listed as a terror organization in 2019 and Hamas earlier this month on July 12. “This government supports the State of Israel and the actions it must take to defend itself against these attacks,” Milei said. “There is only good and evil, and these cruel acts demonstrate without any doubt who is on the side of evil.”
The Board of Deputies of British Jews stated that it mourns the attack victims.
“I wonder how many people will protest on the streets of western capitals for the 12 Druze (mostly children) killed by Hezbollah in northern Israel today,” wrote Joe Truzman, senior research analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal.
Source: JNS
