UKMW prompts Daily Mail correction to claim Israel violated ceasefire with Hamas

We immediately filed a complaint with Daily Mail editors, taking issue with their claim that the IDF broke the ceasefire with Hamas when they used force in response to violent border riots. After several days, editors upheld our complaint, and revised the sentence in question to more accurately contextualise the Palestinian riots in relation to the ceasefire.

A Daily Mail article on Aug. 11th about the latest Gaza border riots included the following claim:

A third Palestinian has died after he was shot by Israeli troops as thousands protested along the Gaza border on Friday. Ahmed Abu Lulu was shot in a section of the border east of the southern city of Rafah and died of his wounds in hospital on Saturday morning. The 40-year-old was among 131 Palestinians wounded by Israeli bullets during the protest, breaking an unofficial ceasefire after less than 24 hours.

We immediately filed a complaint with Daily Mail editors, taking issue with their claim that Israel broke the ceasefire.  We noted that it’s inaccurate to claim, as if it were an incontrovertible fact, that Israeli fire at violent rioters – many of whom were attempting to infiltrate the border – represented a violation of the unofficial ceasefire with Hamas. 

First, the informal ceasefire narrowly related to the Hamas initiated violence on Aug. 7th and 8th, which included over 180 rockets attacks from Gaza, and Israeli retaliation against Hamas military targets.  No reasonable interpretation of the ceasefire could include a demand that the IDF cease to respond to violent Gaza riots and attempts to breach the border.  Palestinian violence during the Aug. 9th riots included makeshift bombs, Molotov cocktails, and at least one incident where a grenade was thrown at Israeli troops.  

Representing more evidence that the ceasefire didn’t relate to the border riots, Hamas had put out a statement on Aug. 9th making it clear that the “March of Return” demonstrations would continue, despite its announcement of a cessation of hostilities with Israel the prior evening.

After several days, editors upheld our complaint, and revised the sentence in question to more accurately contextualise the Palestinian riots in relation to the ceasefire.

A third Palestinian has died after he was shot by Israeli troops as thousands protested along the Gaza border on Friday. Ahmed Abu Lulu was shot in a section of the border east of the southern city of Rafah and died of his wounds in hospital on Saturday morning.  He was among at least 131 Palestinians wounded by Israeli bullets during Friday’s protests, even as an informal truce ending a deadly flare-up between Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas and the Israeli army largely held.

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