A few hours go, both Ha’aretz and the Jerusalem Post reported the death of a 10-year-old palestinian boy in an exchange of fire between Hamas terrorists and IDF troops in the central Gaza town of Deir el-Balah, based on the testimony of palestinian medics. Ha’aretz subsequently changed his age to 7.
But leaving aside this age discrepancy, the really curious thing was when I checked the palestinian news outlets such as Ma’an, Ramattan, and WAFA, there were no reports of a child being killed. In fact, Ma’an reported that a child – presumably the same one – had been seriously injured east of Deir Al-Balah after being “hit by a stray gunshot.” And at the time of this post, this is still what Ma’an is reporting.
In the meantime, Ramattan are now reporting the death of a 7-year-old child called Mohammed Abu Al-Sha’ar, killed in Deir Al-Balah after “having been shot in the head,”while WAFA is reporting that 10-year-old Tamer Abu Sha’ar was killed in Khan Younis, after being “hit in the head by an Israeli sniper who took position in high building.”
So once again, we have different versions of the same supposed event. I have summarized the different versions in this table, which include other discrepancies in addition to those I have already mentioned:
| Ha’aretz | JPost | Ma’an | WAFA | Ramattan | |
| Age of child | 7 | 10 | Not mentioned | 10 | 7 |
| Name of child | Not mentioned | Not mentioned | Tamir Abu Sha’ar | Tamer Abu Sha’ar | Mohammed Abu Al-Sha’ar |
| Current state of child | Dead | Dead | Seriously injured | Dead | Dead |
| Location of shooting | Deir el-Balah | Deir el-Balah | East of Deir Al-Balah | Khan Younis | Deir Al-Balah |
| How shot | Caught in crossfire | Caught in crossfire | By stray gunshot | Shot and hit in the head by an Israeli sniper who took position in a high building | Shot in head |
| Others wounded | 2 children, same place | 2 minors, same place | 2 others, in Abasan, near Khan Younis | “Two others”, same place | “Several others”, same place |
As always, it seems interesting to me that something as straightforward as the killing of a palestinian child should be reported so differently, based on information from palestinian sources. Interesting, but hardly surprising.
My conclusion remains the same: the palestinians are lying about it, and the discrepancies result from the fact that the different palestinian sources did not take the time to fully synchronize their stories.
