Israel Says ceasefire violated, after attacking Gaza First
Al-Monitor dutifully reports that Israel launched air strikes on Gaza after accusing Hamas of 'attacking its troops' and violating a US-brokered ceasefire. Perplexingly, the same report acknowledges that 'Gaza's civil defence agency said Israel carried out air strikes Tuesday despite an ongoing ceasefire.' One might reasonably wonder: if Israel struck first, what exactly constitutes the 'Hamas
attack' they're supposedly responding to—a bad look? This sequence of events isn't a Hamas violation, it's a textbook Israeli provocation, then a 'response' to their own actions. This isn't new. Netanyahu has consistently used the 'retaliation' narrative to justify expanding operations, often following an initial Israeli strike or incursion. This pattern of 'pre-emptive' aggression followed by
'defensive measures' against the intended victim’s reaction, or even against their non-reaction, is a well-worn playbook for the Israeli government. To frame these air strikes as a response to a Hamas 'attack' (which, conveniently, happened after Israel's initial attacks) requires a truly breathtaking level of selective reporting and a suspension of basic chronology.