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You would be forgiven for thinking that the latest Israeli offensive on the Gaza strip is an unfortunate necessity for the Zionist state; that Hamas holds full responsibility for the dead and the wounded; and that Israel is merely "responding" to Palestinian aggression, simply defending itself with no interest in escalating the conflict.
You would be forgiven because, although it is an inaccurate and biased narrative, it is the only narrative you will hear in the mainstream media.
Yousef Munayyer, Executive Director of the Jerusalem Fund, a non-profit organisation based in Washington, DC, has explained why this is not the only narrative by examining data about all the ceasefire violations on either side since the last Egyptian-brokered deal agreed by Israel and Hamas on 21 November 2012, which brought to an end Israel's so-called "Operation Pillar of Defence".
The terms of the agreement included "ending all hostilities by Israelis and Palestinians, and facilitating the freedom of movement and transfer of goods within Gaza." Within 24 hours, Israel explicitly violated the conditions of the ceasefire when its armed forces shot dead a Palestinian man east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip; 19 others were wounded in the incident.
Meanwhile, Israel's promise to facilitate freedom of movement and the transfer of goods within Gaza has been reneged upon continuously since the signing of the truce. This follows a familiar pattern in which a previous ceasefire agreement, brokered by Egypt in 2008, was ended by Israel's extrajudicial assassinations of Palestinians.
Below is a graph, provided by the Jerusalem Fund, detailing the dynamics of fire over a 54-week period following the last ceasefire. All numbers are taken from UN OCHA. From a quick look at the data on weekly violations throughout the year following the 2012 ceasefire, we can see that Palestinian rocket fire has been infrequent and isolated, almost always occurring "after successive instances of Israeli ceasefire violations."
You would be forgiven for thinking that the latest Israeli offensive on the Gaza strip is an unfortunate necessity for the Zionist state; that Hamas holds full responsibility for the dead and the wounded; and that Israel is merely "responding" to Palestinian aggression, simply defending itself with no interest in escalating the conflict.
You would be forgiven because, although it is an inaccurate and biased narrative, it is the only narrative you will hear in the mainstream media.
Yousef Munayyer, Executive Director of the Jerusalem Fund, a non-profit organisation based in Washington, DC, has explained why this is not the only narrative by examining data about all the ceasefire violations on either side since the last Egyptian-brokered deal agreed by Israel and Hamas on 21 November 2012, which brought to an end Israel's so-called "Operation Pillar of Defence".
The terms of the agreement included "ending all hostilities by Israelis and Palestinians, and facilitating the freedom of movement and transfer of goods within Gaza." Within 24 hours, Israel explicitly violated the conditions of the ceasefire when its armed forces shot dead a Palestinian man east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip; 19 others were wounded in the incident.
Meanwhile, Israel's promise to facilitate freedom of movement and the transfer of goods within Gaza has been reneged upon continuously since the signing of the truce. This follows a familiar pattern in which a previous ceasefire agreement, brokered by Egypt in 2008, was ended by Israel's extrajudicial assassinations of Palestinians.
Below is a graph, provided by the Jerusalem Fund, detailing the dynamics of fire over a 54-week period following the last ceasefire. All numbers are taken from UN OCHA. From a quick look at the data on weekly violations throughout the year following the 2012 ceasefire, we can see that Palestinian rocket fire has been infrequent and isolated, almost always occurring "after successive instances of Israeli ceasefire violations."