The Washington Post is being mocked online for its odd front-page photo on Monday showing mourners at the funeral of an 11-year-old girl killed in a Hezbollah rocket attack, which the paper accompanied with a headline about Israeli airstrikes.
“Israel hits its targets in Lebanon,” announced the front-page headline in large type, positioned directly below a photo of distraught family members wailing over the coffin of Alma Ayman Fakhr al-Din, 11, one of 12 children killed by one. Hezbollah rocket fire on a soccer field in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
Another 40 people were wounded in Saturday’s attack, making it the deadliest attack against Israel since the October 7 massacre that sparked the Gaza war.
“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?” Former Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy asked incredulously at X in a post including a screenshot of the newspaper’s front page.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) took a swipe at WaPo in their post on X, showing the infamous front page and writing, “You can see grieving family members burying children killed by Hezbollah in the massacre of Madjal Shams. If you happen to understand something else from their title, you may not be the problem.”
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) also posted the odd front page on X, the pro-Israel Democrat questioning the decision to present the story the way the paper did.
“Today’s Washington Post front page image is of a child killed by Hezbollah,” the congressman wrote on his personal account in a post that has garnered more than 200,000 views.
“However, the front-page headline – ‘Israel strikes targets in Lebanon’ – portrays Israel, not Hezbollah, as the aggressor.”
Other X-users grilled the DC-based daily for the title choice, calling it things like “embarrassing” and “outrageous.”
A user identifying himself as a rabbi said: “This shameful twist of events plays directly into the strategy of Israel’s terrorist enemies.”
Another slammed the Jeff Bezos-owned newspaper as “a propaganda arm of Hamas since October.”
After Saturday’s massacre, the Israeli leadership warned that there would be retaliatory attacks against Hezbollah. He later made good on the promise – with the IDF striking several terrorist targets deep inside southern Lebanon.
However, some critics said the return strike – which the IDF said hit several weapons depots and terrorist infrastructure belonging to the Iran-backed terror group – did not go far enough, given the horrific attack on the football pitch .
Hezbollah has denied accusations that it is behind the rocket attack on the Golan Heights.
The Washington Post did not respond to The Post’s request for comment Monday.
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Image Source : nypost.com