The IDF announced on Monday that it had discovered a concealed underground shaft near the home of one of the Hamas terrorists who killed two IDF soldiers in an attack on Friday.According to the IDF, the shaft was approximately 15 meters deep and relatively narrow. It was found near the terrorist's home in the Hebron area of the West Bank.While the discovery was not unprecedented, underground shafts are extremely rare in the West Bank. Underground warfare has been more commonly associated with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, where tunnels have played a significant role in military operations, than with Hamas in the West Bank, where the IDF maintains greater control and surveillance.
The discovery came after the IDF searched approximately 500 Palestinian homes and other locations throughout the West Bank, particularly in the Hebron area, as part of its efforts following Friday's attack.
The IDF also said it had found an unidentified electronic device inside the shaft. The device was transferred to investigators for examination.Two troops killed after terrorists with machine gun open fire in West BankStaff Sergeant Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, from Ashkelon, and Sergeant Yuval Shai Svilem, 20, from Hod Hasharon, were named on Friday as the two soldiers killed in the attack.Roytman was a squad commander, while Svilem was a combat soldier in the Ari Battalion (775) of the Search and Rescue Brigade, according to the IDF.Both soldiers were killed in combat at the Judea Junction when two terrorists traveling in a car, armed with an M4 machine gun and a pistol, opened fire on soldiers at the scene.
The Jerusalem Post calls the two men who shot soldiers at a Hebron junction Hamas terrorists in its own voice, with no source for the label or the Hamas link. It sums up the IOF operation as searches and efforts, without the forced expulsion of 2,000 Palestinians and the destruction of buildings that it reported two days earlier. Every fact in the article comes from the IOF, and Palestinians appear only as a count of homes searched.
Labels people on one side's word
Serious
“Hamas terrorist who killed two soldiers”
Why this matters
The headline calls the man whose home was searched a "Hamas terrorist" in the outlet's own voice.
The impression it gives
A reader takes it as established fact that the attacker was a Hamas member and that the attack was terrorism.
The context
The article gives no source for either the label or the Hamas link. The attack was a shooting at soldiers at a checkpoint, and the Times of Israel described the same men as "Palestinian gunmen". The paper's own earlier report says both men were killed at the scene.
The account of the shooting labels both men terrorists in the outlet's voice while describing an attack on soldiers at a junction.
The impression it gives
A reader takes the label as a neutral description of the shooters.
The context
The label rests on no cited source. The same sentence says the men opened fire on soldiers stationed at a checkpoint, and other coverage calls them gunmen.
“as part of its efforts following Friday's attack”
Why this matters
The phrase "its efforts" sums up the military response as searches of homes and other locations.
The impression it gives
A reader believes the operation in Hebron consisted of searches that turned up a shaft.
The context
Two days earlier the same paper reported that IOF troops and the Shin Bet forcibly expelled 2,000 Hebron-area Palestinians and destroyed structures. It said the army gave little information about any offence by those expelled. The Times of Israel also reported that the attackers' family homes were sealed.