Saturday, December 18, 2010

Salafist Qassam Squad killed, martyred, whatever

Here is the AFP version. Notice that the rocket-squad part is first presented as an IDF claim, although "witnesses contacted by AFP" seem to be saying substantially the same thing. And then, of course, there are the misleading statistics (see this) on Operation Cast Lead:
Five Palestinian militants were killed as Israeli warplanes struck the Gaza Strip late on Saturday, Israel's military and Palestinian sources said.

Warplanes hit central Gaza to take out a squad of militants about to fire rockets at Israel, the military said.

The strike was one of the most deadly since Israel's 22-day war against Gaza's Hamas rulers, dubbed Operation Cast Lead, which began at the end of December 2008 and cost the lives of 1,400 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.

Witnesses contacted by AFP said armed men preparing an attack on Israel were killed in the raid, while medics gave a death toll of five "martyrs". The raid targeted Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, they said. [...]
We learn their identities in paragraph 6:
The witnesses said the dead militants, former members of Hamas, Islamic Jihad or the Committees of Popular Resistance, belonged to one of the radical Salafist groups in Gaza that have recently stepped up attacks against Israel. [...]
The IRIB Radio version ("Israeli airstrike martyrs five in Gaza") is appropriately slanted, of course, for Khomeinists and their sympathizers, although there are interesting parallels with the AFP article:
At least five Palestinians have been martyred as a result of the Zionist regime airstrike on a town in the central Gaza Strip.

According to Press TV, witnesses said, the attack, the deadliest to hit the Gaza Strip in months, happened near the central town of Deir al-Balah late on Saturday night.

They added that the Zionist rgime drones flew over the Gaza Strip following the strike.

The Zionist regime waged a war against the coastal enclave from December 27, 2008 to January 18, 2009.

More than 1,400 Gazans, mostly women and children, were martyred in 22 days of Israel's devastating air, land, and sea attacks, which also left thousands of people, injured and reduced dozens of buildings to debris.
That 1400 figure for the total casualties of Cast Lead is disputed by the side that has been vindicated in its statements about the number of militants killed.

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