JERUSALEM — U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee visited the Western Wall on Friday, the holiest Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem’s Old City. He inserted a prayer into the wall, which he said was handwritten by President Donald Trump.
“Those are his initials, D.T.,” said Huckabee while showing the note to the media.
In his first act as ambassador, Huckabee said Trump told him to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Huckabee also said every effort was being made to bring home the remaining hostages held by Hamas.
Huckabee’s arrival comes at a pivotal time in the 18-month war, as international mediators including the U.S. are trying to get a broken ceasefire back on track.
Israel is demanding that Hamas release more hostages at the start of any new ceasefire and ultimately agree to disarm and leave the territory. Israel has said it plans to occupy large “security zones” inside Gaza.
Khalil al-Hayya, head of Hamas’ negotiating delegation, said Thursday the group had rejected Israel’s latest proposal along those lines. He reiterated Hamas’ stance that it will return hostages only in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal and a lasting truce, as called for in the now-defunct ceasefire agreement reached in January.
The war began when Hamas-led terrorists attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Hamas currently holds 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive.
Israel’s offensive has since killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
As Israel continued its offensive Friday, Palestinian Christians gathered inside Gaza’s Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrios to mark the Good Friday holiday. Worshippers clad in black bowed their heads in prayer and lit votive candles to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus.
A building in the St. Porphyrios compound was hit soon after the war began in October 2023. Friday’s holiday was the second Good Friday celebrated in Gaza since then. St. Porphyrios is believed to be the third oldest church in the world, according to the World Council of Churches.
Hezbollah leader defiant
In Lebanon, the leader of the terrorist Hezbollah group said Friday that its fighters will not disarm as long as Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon and the Israeli air force regularly violates Lebanese air space.
Naim Kassem addressed supporters in a speech broadcast on Hezbollah’s television station. Kassem took over Hezbollah after Israeli airstrikes killed longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, his successor Hashem Safieddine and other top Hezbollah figures last year, decimating the group’s leadership.
Kassem said Hezbollah had implemented its commitments related to the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that halted the fighting in Hezbollah’s latest, 14-month war with Israel.
Since the ceasefire went into effect in late November, Israeli airstrikes have killed scores of people in Lebanon. Israel says it’s targeting Hezbollah holdouts in southern Lebanon.
Israel withdrew much of its troops from southern Lebanon in February but kept five posts inside Lebanese territory in what Lebanon says is a violation of the ceasefire deal.
Last week, deputy U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus visited Beirut and called on the Lebanese state to assert its control all over Lebanon — and not only in the south along the border with Israel south of the Litani River.
“We will not allow anyone to remove Hezbollah’s weapons,” Kassem said. “These weapons gave life and freedom to our people.”
Kassem spoke hours after two separate Israeli drones killed two people in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military said it killed two Hezbollah members in the strikes.
Yemen oil port hit in U.S. airstrike
In Yemen, a U.S. airstrike on an oil port held by Houthi terrorists killed more than 70 people and wounded many others, the Iranian-backed terrorist group said Friday.
The overnight strike on the Ras Isa port sent massive fireballs billowing skyward and turned tanker trucks into burning wrecks. It was the first American attack on a Houthi-controlled oil facility since the U.S. began its new bombing campaign.
It also came just before the resumption of negotiations in Rome between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, which Washington has linked to its Yemen campaign.
The U.S. is targeting the Houthis because of the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on Israel. The Houthis are the last terrorist group in Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” that is capable of regularly attacking Israel.
The port serves as a major hub for incoming fuel shipments that power areas of Yemen held by the Houthis, and analysts say the airstrike could seriously affect daily life there.
U.S. Central Command declined to answer any questions about possible civilian casualties but referred to a statement in which it said “this strike was not intended to harm the people of Yemen.”
“U.S. forces took action to eliminate this source of fuel for the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists and deprive them of illegal revenue that has funded Houthi efforts to terrorize the entire region for over 10 years,” it said in its statement.
Hours after the U.S. strike, the Houthis launched a missile toward Israel that was intercepted, the Israeli military said. Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Houthis said they shot down another American MQ-9 Predator drone, which the U.S. official acknowledged.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson, Tammy Bruce, accused a Chinese commercial satellite image provider, Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co. Ltd., of “directly supporting Iran-backed Houthi attacks on U.S. interests.”
During a briefing with reporters, Bruce did not elaborate in detail. But she acknowledged a report by The Financial Times that quoted anonymous American officials saying the company linked to the People’s Liberation Army has provided images allowing the terrorists to target U.S. warships and commercial vessels traveling through the Red Sea corridor.
Bruce said “Beijing’s support” of the satellite company … “contradicts their claims of being peace supporters.”