Violence on the Gaza Border

Many of us will have read, or seen, news reports about the violence that broke out on the Gaza border with Israel on Friday 30^th March. But not many people will have sought any more detailed information than that provided in brief reports by the main media, nor the motivation behind the events.

The total death toll has now risen to 18 and the Western media have once again made it look as if the Israelis reacted far too harshly - causing unnecessary casualties among ‘civilian’ protesters.

But the Israelis have identified at least 10 of those who were killed as members of Palestinian terrorist organisations – mostly members of Hamas, the ruling group in Gaza. Indeed Hamas quickly published the names and faces of 5 of its members who died, using photos that showed them wearing combat clothing.

So the Israelis seem confident that their action was justified and they are mounting a strong defence of the policy they put into action on Friday.

The Israelis also state that Hamas’ claim of 1,479 people injured, more than half from live fire, was a gross exaggeration – a tactic that is often used by Israel’s enemies in the propaganda war.

On Monday 2nd April another man was reported to have died of his wounds. This time it was a member of Islamic Jihad, another terrorist group that is operational in Gaza. Thus emerges the fact that the situation is far more complicated than most news outlets report.

So the important question arises: Will our Western politicians be taken in once again by Palestinian propaganda, or will they seek out a more balanced view of the troubles?

Article first published 3rd April, updated on 4th April 2018