GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian local media outlets — including radio stations, news agencies and newspapers — have struggled to cover the fast-paced events on the Palestinian territories since the kidnapping and murder of the three Israeli settlers in mid-June to the current Israeli escalation in the Gaza Strip. So far, quick reporting and live interviews on the ground have prevailed over published materials. Amid a lack of deep analyses of the events, a scarcity of information and an absence of expectations, many news agencies and newspapers are relying on Israeli sources, and are thus failing to articulate an alternative narrative of the events.
The absence of the human story, the reliance on statistics of deaths and injuries, the dissemination of photos of bodies and the limited number of officials who can be reached for comment, either in the West Bank or Gaza Strip, affect the issuance of a complete Palestinian side of the story. They also preserve the state of confusion that has characterized local media since the three settlers were abducted on June 12, and found killed, and after the burning and killing of Mohammed Abu Khdeir by Israelis, two of whom were settlers, in Jerusalem on July 2.
