Netanyahu, security chiefs order preparations for full West Bank lockdown after shooting attack
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a situation assessment with the country’s security chiefs and ordered an immediate closure of Hebron and preparations for a full lockdown across the West Bank, he says on X.
Left out here: Leaves out what changes the picture
The entry never says that Israeli soldiers shot dead the two Palestinian men involved, or that five people were wounded. Without this, Netanyahu's vow that they have "no safe haven" leaves a reader believing the attackers may still be at large.
He says he was joined by Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Shin Bet head David Zini, National Security Adviser Shmuel Ben Ezra, and head of IDF Central Command Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth.
“Our forces are operating with increased intensity to thwart terrorism and are carrying out extensive waves of arrests,” says Netanyahu. “We will pursue Hamas terrorists and those who send them everywhere and at all times. You have no safe haven.”
The West Bank and Gaza were expected to be under lockdown on Monday and Tuesday for Israel’s election.
The Times of Israel relays Netanyahu's order to close Hebron and prepare a lockdown of the whole West Bank, and it gives the entire entry to his words with no Palestinian voice. It never tells the reader that the West Bank is occupied. It also leaves out that Israeli soldiers had already shot dead the two men the military said carried out the attack, so his vow that they have no safe haven can read as a hunt for men still at large.
One side gets the space
Minor
““Our forces are operating with increased intensity to thwart terrorism and are carrying out extensive waves of arrests,” says Netanyahu.”
Why this matters
The outlet gives Netanyahu's description of the raids and mass arrests as the only account of a lockdown on the whole West Bank.
The impression it gives
A reader comes away believing the closure is a targeted counterterrorism step, with no one affected or objecting.
The context
Palestinian leaders called the closure of the entire West Bank collective punishment. Palestinian media reported raids in Dura in which Israeli occupation forces shot and wounded a man. No Palestinian voice appears in the entry.
The headline and the body name the territory under lockdown only as the West Bank. The word occupied appears nowhere.
The impression it gives
A reader comes away believing Israel is closing its own territory, not imposing a closure on an occupied people.
The context
The ICJ found Israel's occupation of the West Bank unlawful. The other outlets reporting the same order 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)
The entry never says that Israeli soldiers shot dead the two Palestinian men involved, or that five people were wounded. Without this, Netanyahu's vow that they have "no safe haven" leaves a reader believing the attackers may still be at large.