What's a ceasefire on top of another ceasefire?

[Teddy Bear]

The BBC reports today on a 'ceasefire' between Hamas and Fatah after continual fighting between these groups. What's not mentioned in this article is that there already has been a ceasefire in place for several months notwithstanding intense fighting between them since. It is only at the end of the article that one reads a ceasefire was agreed several days ago - but it adds that this one has a "far better chance of success".

So I thought this time I would bookmark this one here, so following the next bout of violence between these groups, and the next 'ceasefire' to come about, we can see how the BBC approaches that one.

Also, bear in mind that the BBC journalist in Gaza makes a point to say that "there have been no reports of serious clashes since the ceasefire came into force." That came about at 03:00am local time, and the article was posted on the BBC site at 08:45am, and it's fair to assume that the article was prepared before the time of posting. So it goes to show that even militants sleep.

Gaza ceasefire comes into force

Fatah and Hamas have ordered their gunmen off the streets
A ceasefire has begun in the Gaza Strip after several days of fierce fighting between the two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah.
The truce came into effect at 0300 (0100 GMT), after being announced by Mahmoud Zahar, foreign minister in the Hamas government.

Fighting between the two rival groups has left more than 30 people dead in recent days.

It is the worst violence since Hamas came to power in 2006.

Street battles had intensified over the past five days amid a bitter power struggle between the two sides in Gaza.

The BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says there have been no reports of serious clashes since the ceasefire came into force.

But he says it will be some hours yet before it will be possible to tell whether the truce will really hold.

As the ceasefire was declared, Israeli aircraft bombed a tunnel under the Gaza-Egypt border.

The Israeli military said the tunnel was going to be used by Palestinian militants to attack Israeli targets.

It came one day after a Palestinian suicide bomber from Gaza killed three people in the Israeli resort of Eilat.

Mediation

Mr Zahar announced the truce flanked by Fatah representatives after talks between Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas and a senior aide to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah.

Despite all the bitterness and sadness that we are feeling, we will work to make it succeed

Maher Mekdad
Fatah spokesman


Rough year under Hamas
"All clashes must stop and armed men must withdraw immediately from the streets," he said, reading from a joint statement.

He said the two sides had also agreed to remove checkpoints that had sprung up in many places and release hostages taken recently.

Fatah spokesman Maher Mekdad said his group would observe the ceasefire.

"Despite all the bitterness and sadness that we are feeling, we will work to make it succeed," the Associated Press news agency quoted him as saying.

Egyptian diplomats brokered the Hamas-Fatah deal which came after days of mediation.

The clashes erupted after weeks of relative calm and led both sides to suspend talks aimed at forming a national unity government.

A similar deal was reached a few days ago, but our correspondent says that Monday's truce has a better chance of sticking as fighting has been less intense in the last 48 hours.

[Teddy Bear]

Well the militants have woken up, and already somebody is killed. 'Ceasefire' is really a pseudonym for 'sleep' why bother reporting it in any meaningful way. i have to laugh at this paragraph:
Previous truces between Hamas and Fatah have collapsed, and the BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says it is not clear yet whether the latest will hold. Er....somebody just was killed a few hours after it was agreed, and the BBC reporter is not sure if it will hold. Shows how 'on the ball' they are.

Hamas member killed despite truce

Tensions between factions are high in Khan Younis and across Gaza
A Hamas commander has been killed by gunmen in southern Gaza, despite a ceasefire between the Palestinian militant group and its rival, Fatah.
Hussein Shabasi, 28, was shot dead in Khan Younis hours after the truce went into effect at 0300 (0100 GMT).

A Hamas spokesman condemned the killing but refrained from blaming Fatah - led by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

The truce between the two factions was agreed on Monday, in an attempt to end fighting in which 30 people have died.

The street battles had intensified in recent days, amid a bitter power struggle between the two sides in Gaza.

Previous truces between Hamas and Fatah have collapsed, and the BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says it is not clear yet whether the latest will hold.

After the killing of Mr Shabasi, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told AFP news agency: "We do not want to accuse Fatah, but if it turns out that this crime was committed by Fatah members, it will mark a serious violation" of the ceasefire.

Deadlock

Hamas - which won legislative elections a year ago - and Fatah have been trying to form a unity government for many months.

They are deadlocked over Hamas' rejection of international calls on it to renounce violence and recognise Israel.

Western donors have been withholding aid, resulting in a deep economic crisis in Palestinian territories.

As the ceasefire came into force overnight, Israeli aircraft bombed a tunnel under the Gaza-Egypt border.

The Israeli military said the tunnel was going to be used by Palestinian militants to attack Israeli targets.

It came one day after a Palestinian suicide bomber from Gaza killed three people in the Israeli resort of Eilat.

[Teddy Bear]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but if 2 sides agree to a ceasefire, but fighting still continues and more people are killed -isn't that the end of the ceasefire? What has to happen for a ceasefire to be shown to FAIL?

The BBC ran this headline a few days ago. It's good we have the original text of the article above, to compare how it's changed since. Gaza ceasefire comes into force
Forget we already know that at least one person has already been killed since this ceasefire came into operation - the headline still suggests that it's working - IT COMES INTO FORCE, and it's still there as a main link on their Mid-East pages.

So what do we read in the second paragraph of the article?

But several firefights have broken out and a Hamas member has been shot dead.

Links to yesterday's article that was headlined Hamas member killed despite truce have disappeared from the Middle East pages.

So they've edited the 'Ceasefire comes into force blah blah blah article' to show the death of a Hamas 'member', but they have still left The BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says it will be some hours before it will be possible to tell whether the truce will hold.

Hello!!!
I think we know now - it didn't.

Now why do you think they're leaving it more the impression that it has, then showing the news that the ceasefire is OVER?

[Teddy Bear]

You gotta laugh.
Okay today the BBC runs this headline 'Gaza clashes threaten ceasefire '. Reading on you see there have been many injured in more fighting, and another killed. Yet the BBC throw in "Correspondents say the latest incidents will put the truce under great strain." ('Correspondents' - heh heh heh, Alan Johnston doesn't want to put his name to it anymore)
Truce - Under Strain???
I'd say the truce is non-existent. What has to happen before they declare the 'truce', 'ceasefire', or whatever they want to call it - FINISHED? Why do they try so hard to make readers believe that the Palestinains are capable of honouring any agreement - even between themselves?

Gaza clashes threaten ceasefire

There are reports of skirmishes in various parts of the Gaza Strip
More than a dozen people have been injured and there are unconfirmed reports of at least one fatality in renewed violence in the Gaza Strip.
Clashes have broken out between Hamas fighters and the security forces seen as loyal to the Fatah Party.

It comes just three days after the two factions agreed a ceasefire that was meant to end violence that has claimed more than 30 lives this month.

Correspondents say the latest incidents will put the truce under great strain.

There are reports of skirmishes in various parts of the Gaza Strip and gunmen returning to the streets.

Reuters newsagency reported that 10 people were wounded in northern Gaza when Hamas raided a military intelligence post. Hamas is quoted saying its forces came under fire first.

Highly sensitive issue

Gun battles erupted in the centre of the Gaza Strip after Hamas attacked and captured a lorry it said was carrying weapons to the presidential guard, brought in from Israel.

Fatah denied there were any weapons on board the vehicle, adding that the small convoy of lorries was carrying generators and mechanical spare parts.

The BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says the reinforcement of the troops around Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is a highly sensitive issue.

Mr Abbas favours adopting a softer Palestinian line than Hamas in regard to the confrontation with Israel, and the Israelis and the US are keen to bolster Mr Abbas's forces, our correspondent says.

Washington recently agreed to supply the presidential guard with what it said would be non-lethal equipment.

Hamas has denounced the American involvement as blatant meddling designed to provoke conflict in the Palestinian territories.

[Teddy Bear]

Well after a day with at least 20 dead in Gaza following continued fighting between Fatah and Hamas, the BBC has finally decided to concede that THIS ceasefire is over.
But they are quick to report:
However, a Hamas spokesman said a new ceasefire deal had been reached and would come into force on Friday.

Now you may recall how I began this thread:
The BBC reports today on a 'ceasefire' between Hamas and Fatah after continual fighting between these groups. What's not mentioned in this article is that there already has been a ceasefire in place for several months notwithstanding intense fighting between them since. It is only at the end of the article that one reads a ceasefire was agreed several days ago - but it adds that this one has a "far better chance of success".

So I thought this time I would bookmark this one here, so following the next bout of violence between these groups, and the next 'ceasefire' to come about, we can see how the BBC approaches that one.

Well here it is. Now was there any difference in the amount of fighting going on with or without a ceasefire? If so I can't see it. Is the BBC insulting our intelligence or just showing up their own lack of it with this spin drivel. Who writes this stuff?

Catch the comment from the BBC reporter in Gaza - Alan Johnston, who says "there is no doubt that the confrontation between Hamas and Fatah has moved to a new level."

It's not new at all. He should re-read the news at the beginning of the week. In any event - what a 'brilliant' conclusion.

New fighting scuppers Gaza truce

Fighting has left dozens dead since the end of last year
Fresh fighting in the Gaza Strip has left at least 20 people dead over the past 24 hours, after a truce between the Fatah and Hamas factions collapsed.
However, a Hamas spokesman said a new ceasefire deal had been reached and would come into force on Friday.

More than 150 people have been injured in the fighting - the fiercest seen in Gaza since Hamas came to power in 2006.

Middle East mediators are due to meet to discuss the embargo against Hamas and moribund peace process with Israel.

The BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says there is no doubt that the confrontation between Hamas and Fatah has moved to a new level.

[Teddy Bear]

Okay so today we find out from the BBC, that there is another ceasefire in effect, but the same factions declaring this are still fighting on the street. For the first half of the article below you wouldn't know it though. The way they relay the story one would think that everything now was hunky dory. Only halfway in do you see - they're still fighting - and one can only wonder - why on earth are they still even using the word 'truce' or 'ceasefire' to describe what's going on there.

If they were describing Israeli hostilities after a 'ceasefire' had been 'agreed' as many times as here (I've lost count how many times now), the tone would be totally derisive against Israel if they still talked of yet another one. But here they have endless patience and understanding, the palestinians will keep telling the BBC there's a truce, depsite any continual fighting, and the Beeb will keep running with it.

Rivals bid to revive Gaza truce

Rival Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip have agreed to resume a ceasefire that had collapsed soon after it was first declared on Friday.
Palestinian Interior Minister Saeed Seyam said the governing Hamas movement and the Fatah faction again promised to remove their forces from the streets.

More than 20 people have been killed and 100 wounded in recent days.

The latest fighting came despite two ceasefires agreed since Tuesday, aimed at ending a bitter power struggle.

But on Saturday Mr Seyam told reporters he and Rashid Abu Shbak of Fatah agreed "an immediate ceasefire, removing gunmen from the streets and rooftops of buildings and removing all the checkpoints".

However the BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza said a very similar plan was declared on Friday but failed to halt the violence.

After Mr Seyam spoke, gunfire continued to echo through the streets around him, our correspondent adds.

Bloodshed

Earlier Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas and Fatah leaders appealed for calm.

The calls followed hours of violence which shattered the truce declared on Friday.




Gaza viewpoint
Factions locked in struggle

There were fierce exchanges of machine gun and heavier fire in the central area around the Islamic University, a Hamas stronghold.

University workers ran for cover as Hamas and Fatah gunmen traded fire from the rooftops of nearby buildings, the Associated Press news agency reported.

About 60 people have been killed since 25 January, in the deadliest factional unrest in recent months in Gaza.

Reports say Palestinian Authority President and Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal will meet in Saudi Arabia next Tuesday to try to end the fighting.

This would be a second meeting for the two leaders after a summit in Damascus on 21 January ended without a breakthrough.

Hamas and Fatah have been trying to form a unity government for months.

They are deadlocked over Hamas' rejection of international calls for it to recognise Israel.

Western donors have been withholding direct aid, resulting in a deep economic crisis in the Palestinian territories.

[Teddy Bear]

the BBC continues today with 2 articles that maintain the spin that the Palestinian factions are 'near peace' - and 'coming to an agreement', and 'removing' checkpoints and soldiers from the street, despite continued fighting, and their presence still apparent. Bear in mind that at least 60 people have been killed in daily fighting in this power struggle within the last 10 days, despite the continued BBC headline referring to 'truces' and ceasefires' being in effect.

There is also the absence of any figures of how many 'innocent civilians' that have been killed or injured in this conflict, a point they go to great pains to illustrate when it is Israel involved in conflict with them.

Not only the spin, but the total disregard for any kind of quality, just show how much contempt they hold for the British public.
Since they're doesn't seem to be any outcry from them for the most part, perhaps this contempt is valid.

Part of the first article:

Last Updated: Sunday, 4 February 2007, 02:05 GMT

Palestinians 'nearer' power deal

There were fierce exchanges around the Islamic University
Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have made progress towards agreeing a government of national unity, Egypt's president has said.
Hosni Mubarak's comments came as fighting between members of the two groups continued in the Gaza Strip. At least one man was killed.

More than 20 people have been killed and 100 wounded in recent days.

The factions have repeatedly agreed to ceasefires, aimed at ending a bitter power struggle.

Palestinian Interior Minister Saeed Seyam said on Saturday that he and Rashid Abu Shbak of Fatah agreed "an immediate ceasefire, removing gunmen from the streets and rooftops of buildings and removing all the checkpoints".

However the BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza said a very similar plan was declared on Friday but failed to halt the violence.

A Fatah security official was shot dead in fighting near the faction's Gaza headquarters.

and the second:

Last Updated: Sunday, 4 February 2007, 13:34 GMT

Tense calm follows Gaza fighting

Fighters remain on the streets despite orders to withdraw
A ceasefire between rival Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip appears to be taking hold after some of the deadliest in-fighting there for months.
There have been no major clashes since Saturday night, when both sides renewed a truce which had twice broken down.

About 23 people died and more than 200 were injured in renewed fighting between Fatah and Hamas militants.

The two sides have been locked in a bitter power struggle since Hamas won elections in January 2006.

Checkpoints

The BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says for now, at least, it does seem that Hamas and Fatah have acted to restrain their forces.

Factions locked in struggle
The centre of Gaza City remains tense, he says, and the two sides have not abandoned all the positions that they took up during the fighting.

But the armed presence on the streets is now much reduced, and throughout Gaza there have been no reports of serious clashes.

The fighting, which erupted on a large scale last month, has brought Gaza to a virtual standstill.

Residents began venturing out for the first time in days on Sunday, to find militants manning checkpoints and stores remaining closed despite the renewed truce, Reuters news agency reported.

"We pray to God that the fighting, which only served Israel, will stop once and for all," Gaza resident Abu Mohammad said, standing outside his home.

Mortar fire

Senior Hamas and Fatah officials agreed to restore the ceasefire, pull gunmen off the streets and remove ad hoc checkpoints which had sprung up.

But fighting continued through the night and into the early hours of Sunday.

Mortar bombs exploded near the residence of Fatah chief and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, while gunmen continued to exchange fire.

Two members of Mr Abbas' presidential guard died on Sunday from wounds sustained in earlier fighting, hospital sources said.

Reports say Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal will meet in Saudi Arabia next Tuesday for more talks on forming a government of national unity.

This would be a second meeting for the two leaders after a summit in Damascus on 21 January ended without a breakthrough.

[Teddy Bear]

I now understand why the BBC are at such pains to preserve the appearance of truces and ceasefires between the Palestinian factions despite almost continual fighting. This way the International community and various Human Rights groups don't get involved in denouncing them, and the general public are not presented with the sheer barbarism of these Palestinian 'leaders'.

Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post tells a more revealing story about what is going on there.

In the world of international diplomacy few issues receive
more wall-to-wall support than the notion that it is
essential to establish a Palestinian state. Leaders
worldwide are so busy speaking of how essential it is for a
State of Palestine to be founded that none of them seems to
have noticed that it already exists.

This state was officially founded in the summer of 2005,
when Israel removed its military forces and civilian
population from the Gaza Strip and so established the first
wholly independent Palestinian state in history. Israel's
destruction of four Israeli communities in Northern Samaria
and curtailment of its military operations in the area set
the conditions for statehood in that area as well.

And so it is that as statesmen and activists worldwide
loudly proclaim their commitment to establishing the
sovereign State of Palestine, they miss the fact that
Palestine exists. And it is a nightmare.

In the State of Palestine 88 percent of the public feels
insecure. Perhaps the other 12 percent are members of the
multitude of regular and irregular militias. For in the
State of Palestine the ratio of
police/militiamen/men-under-arms to civilians is higher than
in any other country on earth.

In the State of Palestine, two-year-olds are killed and no
one cares. Children are woken up in the middle of the night
and murdered in front of their parents. Worshipers in
mosques are gunned down by terrorists who attend competing
mosques. And no one cares. No international human rights
groups publish reports calling for an end to the slaughter.
No UN body condemns anyone or sends a fact-finding mission
to investigate the murders.

In the State of Palestine, women are stripped naked and
forced to march in the streets to humiliate their husbands.
Ambulances are stopped on the way to hospitals and wounded
are shot in cold blood. Terrorists enter operating rooms in
hospitals and unplug patients from life-support machines.

In the State of Palestine, people are kidnapped from their
homes in broad daylight and in front of the television
cameras. This is the case because the kidnappers themselves
are cameramen. Indeed, their commanders often run television
stations. And because terror commanders run television
stations in the State of Palestine, it should not be
surprising that they bomb the competition's television
stations.

SO IT WAS that last week, terrorists from this group or that
group bombed Al Arabiya television station in Gaza. And so
it is that Hamas attacks Fatah radio announcers and closes
down their radio station claiming that they use their
microphones to incite murder. Because indeed, they are
inciting murder. What would one expect for terrorists to do
when placed in charge of a radio station?

And so it is that in the State of Palestine, journalists -
whether members of terror groups or not - are part of the 88
percent of their public who are afraid. Sunday they
protested outside the offices of one terror faction or
another that controls the Palestinian Authority.

Speaking to The Jerusalem Post, reporter Ala Masharawi
explained, "No one goes outside, no one moves without
thinking twice. Gaza's streets have become terrible streets,
especially at night. Gaza is a ghost town."

As the Post's Khaled Abu Toameh reported last week, in the
State of Palestine, Christians are persecuted, robbed and
beaten in what can only be viewed as a systematic campaign
to end the Christian presence in places like Bethlehem. As
Samir Qumsiyeh, owner of the Beit Sahur-based private
Al-Mahd (Nativity) TV station lamented, "I believe that 15
years from now there will be no Christians left in
Bethlehem. Then you will need a torch to find a Christian
here."

MANY GOVERNMENT ministers and commentators seek strategic
meaning in the strife in the State of Palestine. Foreign
Minister Tzipi Livni, for instance, goes on and on about the
need to strengthen the "moderates" - that is, the Fatah
terror group - over the "extremists" - that is, the Hamas
terror group.

Helping her to propound this nonsense is PA Chairman and
Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas and his men tell Westerners
how pro-Western they are at the same time as they name
streets and schools financed by US aid after Saddam Hussein
and build sports facilities on the American taxpayers' tab
in memory of terrorists who killed American soldiers in
Iraq.

For the umpteenth time, on Sunday Fatah spokesmen in PA
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's office blamed Iran and Syria for
the escalating violence in Gaza and Judea and Samaria that
has killed 29 people, including two children, in four days.
"Iran and Syria are encouraging Hamas to continue fighting
against Fatah," they alleged.

And yet, just last Thursday the Shin Bet arrested Omar
Damra, a Fatah terrorist in Nablus. Damra is accused of
manufacturing suicide bomb belts and attempting to smuggle
them into Israel. He also stands accused of plotting to
place explosive devices along roads in Judea and Samaria
with the intention of blowing up IDF patrols.

Damra and his partner and fellow Fatah terrorist Mahmad
Ramaha, who was arrested a month ago, were working under the
instruction of Hizbullah - that is, under the direction of
Iran. According to the Shin Bet, Hizbullah - that is, Iran -
has taken over Fatah operations in Nablus. Since Israel's
withdrawal from northern Samaria in August 2005, the Shin
Bet has noted that, like Gaza, the Nablus area has become a
mini-Afghanistan.

So not only are Hamas terrorists operating under Iranian and
Syrian direction today, Fatah terrorists are as well. Yet
this doesn't stop the US and Israel from pouring guns and
money into the hands of Fatah terror chiefs. They fail to
recognize that what you see is what you get.

These guns are not used to encourage moderation. These guns
are used against Israelis and Palestinians alike in a turf
battle between terror groups over money, guns and power that
will never end. And it will never end because fighting and
killing for money, guns and power is what terrorists do.

FOR THE past 13 years, since the Palestinian Authority was
established in 1994, the contours of the State of Palestine
have taken form in front of our eyes. Starting with Yasser
Arafat's abrogation of the rule of law and murderous
campaign against land dealers and journalists, with each
passing year and with each move to further empower the PA,
the situation has only grown worse. And yet, international
pressure on Israel from Arabs, Europeans and the US to
surrender more territory, curtail its authority, abrogate
its claims to the areas set for Palestine, and finance the
Fatah terror group have only grown in intensity.

And with each passing year, as the reality of Palestine has
become clearer, the Israeli leadership's will to resist this
pressure is increasingly eroded.

So it is that last week Defense Minister Amir Peretz
announced that he supports negotiating with Hamas. Peretz
laid out his "vision" for the reinstatement of the so-called
peace process with the Palestinians, and stated that, to
"empower" the Palestinians, he supports extending the ban on
IDF operations from Gaza to Judea and Samaria. It should go
without saying that such IDF operations are aimed at
preventing massacres of Israeli civilians like the one that
happened in Eilat Monday morning.

LIVNI, FOR her part, has become the international champion
of Fatah. Gushing to an audience of international peace
processors in Davos, Switzerland, last week, Livni said, "In
order to achieve peace and in order to promote a process, we
must stick to this vision of a two-state solution and
examine what the best steps to take are."

Of course, neither Livni nor Peretz, who insist that
Israel's most urgent priority is to establish Palestine, is
willing to recognize that Palestine exists already. They
refuse to acknowledge what we already know: Palestine is a
terror state and an economic basket case fully funded by the
international community. Indeed, over the past year since
Hamas won the Palestinian elections, international
assistance to the Palestinians has increased dramatically.

As Ibrahim Gambari, the UN under-secretary-general for
political affairs, noted last Thursday, official Western aid
to the Palestinians, not including Arab and Iranian support
for Hamas and Fatah, increased by 10 percent in 2006 over
2005, and stood at $1.2 billion.

The Palestinians, who receive more aid per capita than any
people on earth, are needy not because they lack funds. They
are poor because they prefer poverty, violence and war to
prosperity, peace and moderation. So it is that 57 percent
of Palestinians support terror attacks against Israel.

The multitude of protesters worldwide who demand an end to
the so-called "occupation" and the establishment of
Palestine should be made aware of the fact that Palestine
already exists. The hordes of political leaders mindlessly
squawking about "visions" and "two-state solutions" should
know: This is Palestine. Enter at your own risk.

[Teddy Bear]

Lets just examine the following excerpt from a BBC article

Truce

Israel and Palestinian militants have observed a truce since November, although Israel has launched some raids, and militants in Gaza have fired some rockets into Israel.

The Israeli army says the ceasefire still holds but the government says it still has the right to take defensive measures against rocket attacks.

The militant Islamic Jihad group has said it will not adhere to the truce while Israel continues to carry out raids in the West Bank.

Now I don't think it's rocket science (no pun intended), but there's a thing called 'cause and effect' operational here. If the Palestinians keep lauching rockets into Israel, then Israel has a duty to try and prevent them. reading the above excerpt one wouldn't know which came first.

What's the meaning of 'some' rockets? Is it 2 or 3, 20 or 30, 200, I'm no journalist but it took me 10 minutes to get the figure for 'some.

From the MFA website

In 2006 alone a total of 1726 Kassam rockets were fired into Israel, an average of nearly 5 a day. This is what the BBC call 'some'.

I don't know of any occasion where Israel launched a raid into Palestinian territory without it being in retalliation for an attack on themselves.

It's only because the BBC run idiotic themes like these that militants bother to state "The militant Islamic Jihad group has said it will not adhere to the truce while Israel continues to carry out raids in the West Bank."

What truce? Stop the rocket and terrorist attacks and there will be no more raids? How much sense does one need to work that out? Apparently more than the BBC has, when it doesn't want to know.

[Teddy Bear]

Honest Reporting have also picked up on this theme with other news outlets;

Straining a "Ceasefire"?
At what point do Palestinian terror and missile attacks constitute a breach of a "ceasefire"?

Over the past few years the media has consistently downplayed or ignored Palestinian violence, while apportioning blame on Israeli retaliatory or preventative actions as the cause of "escalating violence" or "breaking of ceasefires". It appears, yet again, necessary to protest this inaccurate and misleading representation of the conflict.

Unless you read the Israeli press on a daily basis, it is almost impossible to get a full and accurate picture of events in Israel and the Palestinian territories from the international media. One could get a false impression of relative quiet in the absence of media reports of mass casualty events.

A 22 April Associated Press report says that: "Hamas militants called Sunday for a fresh wave of attacks against Israel after troops killed nine Palestinians in weekend fighting, straining a five-month-old cease-fire."

Thus, Israel is blamed for "straining a ceasefire". According to the AP: "The Gaza truce has largely held, though militants have frequently fired rockets into Israel and have attacked Israeli patrols along the border fence." How serious must Palestinian actions be in the eyes of the AP before a "ceasefire" is broken? Why are Israeli counter-measures designed to protect this truce regarded as violations while constant Palestinian terror is not?

Recent Israeli operations against targets in Gaza are a direct response to the latest Qassam missile attacks. Yet, the AP saves this for the third paragraph of its report: "The fighting also included a Palestinian rocket attack on the southern Israeli town of Sderot that damaged a home."

The Elder of Ziyon blog has been keeping a calendar of Qassam attacks and Israeli responses, demonstrating that while Israel has exercised an enormous amount of restraint over the past months, the Palestinians have not actually enforced the Gaza "ceasefire" that they claim to be adhering to.

Some Palestinians claim that their Gaza attacks have been in response to Israeli operations in the West Bank, where a "ceasefire" is not in effect. Much of the media, while focused on Israeli counter-terror measures, have, however, forgotten the constant Palestinian terror efforts that led to the IDF operations in the first place. This April alone, the following incidents illustrate that the media's impression that Israel shattered the calm is anything but accurate:

Islamic Jihad terrorist captured near Tel Aviv after his bomb belt fails to detonate
Palestinian bride arrested on suspicion of planning to carry out suicide bombing
3 Israelis injured in shooting attack near Modi'in
Hamas calls for further kidnappings of Israeli soldiers
Israeli cars shot at in West Bank
Israeli civilian wounded in West Bank drive-by shooting
Arrests prevent huge Hamas-planned car bomb in Tel Aviv
Egypt arrests would-be Hamas suicide bomber near Israeli border
Palestinian rockets hit Sderot home; several Israelis treated for shock

[steevo]

That's a very good post. Very pertinent. All along the pattern is obvious to the injustice but it doesn't hurt to lay it out and succinctly summarize. Absolute proof in their faces.

[Teddy Bear]

The BBC are at it again, downplaying Palestinian internal fighting whilst magnifying Israeli involvement, but grossly minimising the reasons for it.

First consider the following headlines from various news outlets covering the same events going on in Gaza: Note each of them with the exception of the Telegraph tells of the Israeli attack on Hamas targets, not of the Palestinian infighting.

Reuters = Israel hits Hamas targets, Gaza militants fire back
Sky News = Israeli Missiles Hit Hamas Targets

AP = Israel launches new airstrikes on Hamas

The Telegraph =
Israel considers giving Fatah military support

Then comes the BBC with 'news' of another of their Hamas/Fatah 'ceasefires', despite it being the 5th since last Sunday, and after at least 50 Palestinians being killed in their infighting.

BBC = Palestinians agree Gaza ceasefire

Now we look at what the BBC are 'reporting' in this article(highlights mine):

The rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah have agreed another ceasefire as they attempt to end an upsurge in fighting in the Gaza Strip.
It is the fifth such truce since violence broke out last Sunday. Since then about 50 people have died.

The two sides have reportedly agreed to take their gunmen off the streets and return hostages seized in the fighting.

Meanwhile at least one person was killed in northern Gaza after Israel launched an air strike.

Note they stick this 'fact' in here despite it having nothing to do with the points being made and that later in the article they report "After the ceasefire was announced, but before it came into effect, a convoy carrying a senior Fatah member came under fire." Which has far greater bearing on this 'ceasefire'.

The Israeli army said the raid had targeted "three members of a Qassam rocket-launching cell that had just fired a rocket towards Israel".

Palestinian residents said the dead man was a shepherd with no connection to the rocket attacks.

Israel has resumed air strikes on targets in Gaza
Israel's Defence Minister Amir Peretz has said attacks on the Hamas movement in Gaza will continue until rocket attacks on Israel stop.

Israel resumed air strikes on Tuesday after a six-month lull, following several rocket attacks on Israel.

"Several rocket attacks"? here are the figures as of yesterday:
Close to 30 Kassam rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel in the past 24 hours, two of which hit a school and a synagogue in Sderot.

More than 90 Kassam rockets were launched into Israel since Tuesday.

Close to 400 rockets were launched since the November ceasefire.

And this for the insidious BBC is 'some'.

Mr Peretz said militants who fired rockets on Israeli border towns should be "very afraid".

Official attacked

A spokesman for Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya said that under the latest ceasefire, which was due to come into effect at 1500 local time (1200 GMT), "armed men will leave [their positions in] buildings and streets [and] will remove road blocks".

Hostages would be released by both sides at 1600, he said.

After the ceasefire was announced, but before it came into effect, a convoy carrying a senior Fatah member came under fire.

Security sources said Mohammad al-Masri, President Mahmoud Abbas's intelligence chief in the Gaza Strip, was unhurt in the attack.

This is what the BBC calls fair and impartial - an absolute disgrace.

[Teddy Bear]

Stephen Pollard of the Spectator Blog has picked up on the above story:

Monday, May 21, 2007, 10:12AM
The BBC - at it againHow the BBC's journalists must have missed not being able to distort the situation in Gaza over the past few months. How they must be relieved to have the opportunity once more.

Here's how its website reported the IDF strike on Gaza:

Israel resumed air strikes on Gaza on Tuesday after a six-month lull. It followed several rocket attacks on Israel.
Several? Several?


Amazing, isn't it, that one has to rely on a private blogger rather than the BBC for a proper summary of what has been happening:
An elderly Israeli woman was badly wounded today [16th May] by rockets fired from Gaza on the Israeli Negev town of Sderot. On Tuesday, 24 rockets hit Israel and wounded 30 people. Throughout today, 21 Kassams were fired at Israel. Sderot has been repeatedly hit. Virtually none of this has been reported in the British media; the few references there have been have been made only as an afterthought to the reporting of Israel’s air raids against Hamas targets in the last couple of days...Since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, Palestinian terrorists have fired more than 1,300 rockets into Israel. Even while they are tearing themselves apart — at least 17 Palestinians are reported to have been killed in Gaza in fighting between Fatah and Hamas —they can still find the means to bombard Israel. In the circumstances, Israel’s self-restraint has been truly bizarre. No other country would have experienced such sustained rocket attack for so long and do virtually nothing in response. No other country in the world is expected in such circumstances to respond to such acts of war by turning the other cheek. Only the Jewish state.