The IDF published new footage on Sunday showing the moment Israeli forces eliminated two terrorists during Friday's fierce exchange of fire at the Judea Junction. During the shootout, which began when the two terrorists from Hebron attacked the troops, Staff Sergeant Ron Yonatan Roytman and Sergeant Yuval Shai Svilem fell in battle, and three other soldiers were wounded. The surveillance footage shows the exchange of fire between the terrorists and the Ari Battalion's deputy commander's team.
During the battle, a soldier is seen charging at the terrorists while opening fire. Within moments, additional soldiers join him. The gunfire eliminated the two terrorists. The incident began when the terrorists arrived at the Judea Junction on Route 35 in a car and opened fire at the IDF forces operating there. An exchange of fire between the terrorists and the fighters lasted for more than 20 minutes. During the encounter, two fighters fell, and others were injured.
Left out here: Leaves out what changes the picture
The article never says that the Judea Junction shooting took place at a checkpoint in the Hebron area of the occupied West Bank. It describes only "IDF forces operating there". Without this, a reader who does not know the place name cannot tell that the soldiers were posted inside occupied territory, which the ICJ has found unlawful.
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)
Additional soldiers who rushed to the scene surrounded the terrorists and eliminated them.
Arutz Sheva reports the IOF's footage of the shooting at Judea Junction near Hebron. It writes the killing of the two Palestinian attackers as "eliminated" four times and never uses the word killed for anyone. It names and ranks the two dead soldiers but leaves the two Palestinians unnamed. It never tells the reader that the junction is in the occupied West Bank.
Writes the death out
Serious
“troops eliminated Judea Junction terrorists”
Why this matters
The headline uses "eliminated" for the soldiers killing two men, the army's operational word in place of killed.
The impression it gives
A reader takes in a target being removed, not two people being shot dead.
The context
Other outlets reporting the same event say plainly that the two men were killed. The article never uses any form of the word kill.
This sentence makes "the gunfire" the subject and "eliminated" the verb. The soldiers who fired are taken out of the sentence and the deaths are written out.
The impression it gives
A reader sees gunfire doing something impersonal to a target, with no person shooting and no one dying.
The context
The Jerusalem Post names who did it: the regional defence officer and the deputy battalion commander engaged the two men and killed them.
The closing sentence repeats "eliminated" and ends the article on the army's word for the deaths. In S2 and S9 the article writes that the soldiers "fell", so neither side's dead are ever called killed.
The impression it gives
A reader finishes the report without one plain statement of who was killed and by whom.
The context
The Times of Israel reports the same event with the plain verb: the gunmen "killed 2 soldiers". The Jerusalem Post reports that both attackers were killed.
Israeli soldiers shot dead the two Palestinian men, Mohammad and Firas Jaaba, who had opened fire on troops at a checkpoint near Hebron in the occupied West Bank, killing Staff Sergeant Ron Yonatan Roytman and Sergeant Yuval Shai Svilem.
Names one side's dead only
Minor
“the two terrorists from Hebron”
Why this matters
The article gives the dead soldiers their full names and ranks in this same sentence. It refers to the two dead Palestinians only as "the two terrorists from Hebron".
The impression it gives
A reader meets the Israeli dead as people and the Palestinian dead only as a label.
The context
The Times of Israel, reporting the same day, named the two men as Mohammad and Firas Jaaba.
The article never says that the Judea Junction shooting took place at a checkpoint in the Hebron area of the occupied West Bank. It describes only "IDF forces operating there". Without this, a reader who does not know the place name cannot tell that the soldiers were posted inside occupied territory, which the ICJ has found unlawful.
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)