Current Events Blog Post #3 - Hamas and Potential Ceasefire

Ismail Haniyeh of the Palestinian Authority speaking with Egypt.

The Jerusalem Post published “Hamas: Wereceived timeline for ceasefire with Israel” which discussed the potential plan to create a ceasefire between Hamas and the Israeli government within the Gaza Strip. Currently, the Gaza government is headed by Ismail Haniyeh, the Prime Minister of Palestinian Authority, referred to as the Hamas administration. Haniyeh, who has ruled Gaza for a total of ten years (not consecutive) spoke of their demands to reporters and Egypt who relayed the information to Israel. The demands include an exchange of prisoners, the removal of signal jamming devices in Israeli prisons, the removal of sanctions for Palestinian prisoners following a stabbing, the expansion of fishing zones, and the reopening of crossings on the Israel/Gaza border among other things. The United Nations Middle East are also aware of the restrictions prisoners are facing since they discussed the result of the stabbing in a meeting with Hamas in Gaza. The talks of a potential plan over a cease fire between Israel and Hamas, according to Ismail Radwan, a Hamas senior official, said that they are not working towards a long-term cease fire with Israel but rather seeking to implement a truce. In contrast, Justice Minister Ayelet and the Education Minister Naftali Bennett stated that unless Israeli captives were released, they would not agree to a ceasefire with Hamas. The remainder of the article was dedicated to attempts by Hamas and Israel to argue for their side. Hamas asked its allies, Egypt and Qatar, to aid in the removal of sanctions placed on Palestinian prisoners. Leah Goldin, the mother of Hadar Goldin, an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Lieutenant expressed her frustration with the Israeli government. Specifically, her frustration was directed toward Education Minister Bennett because of his failure to retreat the remains of her son nearly five years ago. In sum, the article presented the issues and restrictions both Hamas leaders and Israeli officials face when attempting to make agreements to work towards a ceasefire.

The article offers the specific views from both Hamas leaders and Knesset members. In the beginning of the article the authors reference Hamas speaking to reporters, but it is not specified what reporters or from what news station or newspaper they work for. These cannot be regarded as fact without direct support from both parties or a more reliable source that can be traced directly to an individual. Additionally, it is not till later that a specific Hamas leader or representative is mentioned, though still not directly quoted. The first person mentioned is Ismail Haniyeh, who is said to have spoken with reporters in Gaza City after Hamas spoke with Egypt who spoke with Israel, but again not quoted directly. In regard to specific demands made by Gaza/Hamas, the only mentioned source in the article is referred to as a “Palestinian source,” again not reliable enough to be used as a fact. As Hamas discussed the issue of prisoner sanctions with the United Nations Middle East and Hamas’ attempt to involve Egypt and Qatar, the only source credited here was a “source close to Hamas.” Later, Ismail Radwan is mentioned to have discussed ways for Egyptians to aid in the ending of restrictions imposed on Palestinian prisoners but again, he is not quoted directly but referred to only having said these things. On the subject of Knesset members and their perspective on the ceasefire talks with Hamas, the first source is brought up in the article as simply an “Israeli source,” without any specific person of claiming that Knesset members have not voted on any agreement for Hamas. These, because of their lack of reliability since they are without the support of fact, must be taken as an “informed” opinion at best. Next, the article offers perspectives of Knesset members from the Far Right on the matter, where a source from Ayelet Shaked was likely taken from Army Radio. Nickolay Mladenov is also mentioned in this portion of the article, and is directly quoted, taken from an issued statement from the previous Tuesday (this article was published April 02, 2019). He was also quoted directly when he called for Palestinian groups to work with Egypt forces to restore hope in the population of Gaza. Leah Goldin was also quoted directly as she expressed her frustrations. This articles source were vague where it mattered, and specific on the ceasefire agreements plan as it affected various people.  

The Jerusalem Post was formally regarded as a left-wing paper, but Yaakov Katz is the current editor and chief. Katz was a previous military reporter and advisor to Naftali Bennett for the department of Education and Diaspora Affairs. This close relationship between politicians and current editors of major newspapers in Israel is not surprising but a significant point to be aware of as this could highly alter the point of view of the writers for The Jerusalem Post. This newspaper is now regarded as centrist and aims to provide a balanced information and news coverage from multiple political spectrums. The multiple authors: Khaled Abu Toameh, Tovah Lazaroff, Yvette J. Deane, were critical of the potential plan proposed by Israel that included a set of demands. This could be because they are skeptical of the meetings between Hamas, Egypt, and Israels’ talk to have any long-lasting impact on a cease fire agreement. Similarly, they appeared sympathetic to the sanctions imposed on Palestinian prisoners, since they offered information on Hamas leaders and their thoughts on the issue as well as Egypt and United Nations Middle East who are aware of the sanctions on the Palestinian prisoners. In contrast, the writers also shared personal testimonies of Israelis who are suffering because the demands in the ceasefire, though there were no testimonies offered in the article from Gaza. All of these factors, the political sphere The Jerusalem Post and the biases of the writers themselves has on impact on the point of view of any article. 

Young boy overlooks Jabalia in north Gaza City.