Israel Police operating in the West Bank have opened investigations into three suspects arrested over the weekend for illegal possession of firearms and other weapons, as well as gazelles, a protected species in Israel, police announced on Sunday.The suspects were arrested during a military operation during which illegal firearms were seized across the West Bank.In the village of Shufa, near Tulkarm, Israeli forces acting on previously gathered intelligence found three hunting rifles hidden in a civilian home and an adjacent greenhouse, along with a large amount of ammunition, IDF uniform pants, and two knives.
Police arrested the suspect, a Shufa resident in his 40s, at the scene.Police also found and seized four gazelles being held there, which were later handed over to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority due to their status as protected animals.Israeli forces arrest two in Nablus region In Askar, a refugee camp on the outskirts of Nablus, Israeli forces seized an M-16 rifle and a handgun, both hidden inside a home, and arrested a Nablus resident in his 20s in connection with the find.In the village of Bizzariya, about 13 km. (8 miles) northwest of Nablus, Israeli forces seized a hunting rifle while responding to a reported shooting.
The man suspected of possessing the rifle, a resident of the village in his 20s, was arrested
The Jerusalem Post reports arrests by Israel Police and Israeli forces in Shufa, Askar refugee camp and Bizzariya without once saying the West Bank is occupied. It describes the gazelles seized in Shufa as a protected species in Israel and never tells the reader that Israeli authorities are acting in territory the ICJ has found Israel occupies unlawfully.
Hedges the documented record
Minor
“Israel Police operating in the West Bank”
Why this matters
The words "Israel Police operating in the West Bank" present the West Bank as a place where Israeli police simply work. Nowhere does the article say the territory is occupied.
The impression it gives
A reader believes Israeli police enforcing Israeli rules in Shufa, Askar and Bizzariya is routine law enforcement, as it would be inside Israel.
The context
The International Court of Justice has found Israel's occupation of the West Bank unlawful. The article never uses the words occupied or occupation, so the reader is not told that these arrests take place under an occupation with that legal status.
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)
Checked against the whole articleIt never uses the words “occupied” and “occupation”.
The phrase "a protected species in Israel" judges gazelles held in Shufa, near Tulkarm, by Israeli law. The article then reports, as routine, that they were handed to an Israeli state body.
The impression it gives
A reader believes Shufa falls under Israel's wildlife law in the same way any Israeli town does.
The context
Shufa is in the West Bank, which the ICJ found Israel occupies unlawfully. The article applies Israel's law there and never tells the reader that Israeli authorities are acting in occupied territory.
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)
Elsewhere in the article“handed over to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority”