The Times of Israel reports the sealing of two Palestinian families' homes in Hebron almost entirely through Israeli military statements. It writes the killing of the two Palestinians in the passive, with no actor, although its own army source and other outlets say Israeli forces shot them; it never tells the reader the West Bank is occupied territory; and it closes with the army's unchallenged account of "ongoing operations" while leaving out the siege of Hebron and the forcing of residents from their homes reported the same day.
9.1
Severe
out of 10
What we found
Hides who did it
Severe
“Both gunmen were shot dead.”
What the words do
The sentence uses the passive "were shot dead" with no actor, so nobody appears to have fired the fatal shots.
What a reader comes away believing
That the two men somehow ended up dead, with no identified killer.
What is actually the case
Israeli forces killed them. The army itself said it killed the two men after a manhunt, and the chief of staff publicly praised the battalion that killed them.
Israeli soldiers shot both men dead after the attack, the army said.
Gives a contested claim the last word
Serious
“troops apprehended 12 suspects overnight”
What the words do
The article closes on the army's own tally of arrests and seizures during "the ongoing operations", with no Palestinian account of what those operations did.
What a reader comes away believing
That the operation in Hebron consists of arrests of suspects and seizures of weapons and vehicles.
What is actually the case
On the same day, Palestinian sources reported that Israeli forces forced residents out of their homes in southern Hebron and took the houses over as barracks and observation posts, and that Hebron and Halhul were sealed off.
The army says troops detained 12 people and seized weapons and vehicles overnight; Palestinian sources say the same operation sealed off Hebron and Halhul and that soldiers forced residents out of homes in southern Hebron and used them as military posts.
Leaves out what changes the picture
Serious
What is missing
The article says only that there are "ongoing operations in Hebron". It never says Israel sealed off Hebron and Halhul, barring entry and exit to a city of about 250,000 people, and that Netanyahu ordered preparations for a lockdown of the entire West Bank. Without this a reader believes the overnight action was a narrow house-sealing operation rather than a siege of a city.
The article does not report that during the same operation Israeli forces forced residents out of their homes in southern Hebron and turned those homes into barracks and observation posts. Without it a reader believes the only homes affected were those of the two men accused of the shooting.
The words place Hebron in "the West Bank" with no mention of occupation anywhere in the piece, in the outlet's own voice.
What a reader comes away believing
That Hebron is simply a city in a region called the West Bank, where Israeli demolition policy operates as ordinary law enforcement.
What is actually the case
The International Court of Justice found Israel's occupation of the West Bank unlawful in July 2024; other outlets reporting this same operation call it the occupied West Bank.
How we know
On the recordThe International Court of Justice's July 2024 advisory opinion found Israel's occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem unlawful.icj-cij.org (opens in a new tab)
“As a matter of policy, Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly terror attacks.”
What the words do
The sentence presents punitive demolition as settled policy and says nothing about who else lives in the sealed or demolished houses.
What a reader comes away believing
That only the accused men are affected by the sealing and the planned demolition.
What is actually the case
The article itself refers to appeals by the family, so relatives live in these homes, but it never says that sealing and demolition punish people not accused of anything.
How we know
Elsewhere in the article“the High Court must address appeals by the family”
The article describes demolition as a months-long process subject to High Court appeals, but omits that the finance minister ordered the immediate demolition of Palestinian buildings near the attack site as a retaliatory measure. Without it a reader believes demolitions here follow only a judicial timetable.
Every underline is part of a finding. Press one to see why.
IDF troops seal homes of 2 gunmen who killed 2 soldiers near Hebron
IDF troops seal homes of 2 gunmen who killed 2 soldiers near Hebron
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
IDF troops sealed the homes of the two Palestinian gunmen who carried out Friday’s deadly shooting attack against soldiers at a checkpoint in the West Bank city of Hebron.
The military says that overnight, troops operating in Hebron sealed the homes of Mohammad and Firas Jaaba, who killed Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem and wounded three other troops in the shooting attack. Both gunmen were shot dead.
As a matter of policy, Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly terror attacks. Sealing the homes of attackers is often a replacement or stopgap for demolishing them. In general, the demolition process takes several months, as the High Court must address appeals by the family, and security forces often wait for an optimal time to enter Palestinian cities or neighborhoods for the operation.
The IDF says the temporary sealing of the homes was approved by Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, and that the military “intends to continue to advance the process of demolishing their homes.”
Meanwhile, the army says that troops apprehended 12 suspects overnight, seized “illegal vehicles,” and captured several weapons during the ongoing operations in Hebron.