Thursday, March 15, 2012

Gaza According to Aftonbladet: Omissions, etc.

Gaza rocket hits Eshkol  (Ynet)
Today's report currently up on Aftonbladet's website claims the truce between Israel and Gaza is fragile but still holding with barely any firing at Israel from Gaza:

-"A fragile cease-fire has virtually stopped four days of violence in and around the Gaza Strip...The Air Force attacked a farm outside the city of Gaza and an undeveloped area outside the Khan Yunis in the south. None of the attacks hurt anyone, said the Palestinians. According to Israeli military raids were in response to a Palestinian rocket fired at the city of Beer Sheba."

Note that the truce seems to indicate that the violence was caused by Israeli attacks on Gaza, with no mention of the barrage of rockets that Gaza fired at Israel's civilian population. A better and truer account is provided by Ynet:


-"...several rockets were fired at western Negev communities from the Strip.

 "Gaza terrorists fired a Grad rocket at Ashdod, which was intercepted by a nearby Iron Dome battery. Moments later Qassam rockets hit open areas in Eshkol Regional Council and the outskirts of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. 

"The IDF refrained from targeting any terror hubs in the Strip Thursday, following a request from Egypt to temper its response in order "not to lose proportions" and allow the ceasefire time to take effect."


Ynet also notes that both today and tomorrow Israeli schoolkids are home from school. Most kids and their parents have better access to bomb shelters at home--short warning times and limited shelter space at schools make it unsafe to try to shepherd large numbers of kids down into shelters with less than a minute's warning.

"Following the sporadic rocket fire and mounting security concerns, several municipalities, including Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beersheba, Ofakim and Gan Yavne announced that they intend to suspend Friday's school day."


Note that the range of fire has greatly expanded with the use of weapons such as Grad missiles and upgraded Kassam rockets. So, despite Aftonbladet's breezy description of how Israelis are still "raiding" and Palestinians are barely shooting anything, the truth is that Israeli life in the South is still disrupted by continuing strikes targeting even more Israeli civilians.


By Chanah Shapira

1 comment:

  1. Observera att bilden ovan inte föreställer en del av en missil eller raket utan "svansen på en granatkastar projektil" troligtvis en 120 mm. Blid redaktören på Ynet har tydligtvis inte tjänstgjort vid ett granatkastar förband under sin militärtjänstgöring, till skillnad från undertecknad.

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