Los Angeles Times Clarifies: US, Israel Dispute Hamas Claim to Accept Ceasefire

CAMERA this week prompted correction of a Los Angeles Times article which inaccurately reported that “Hamas had accepted terms of a cease-fire.” As the U.S. State Department made explicitly clear: “Hamas did not accept a ceasefire proposal.”

A week into the two-week rotation – on May 6 – came news that Hamas had accepted the terms of a cease-fire proposed by Egyptian and Qatari mediators.

Abdelfattah recalled the celebration – children singing, fireworks – but within an hour, explosions in the distance could be heard. The bombing was continuing. There was no cease-fire. [Emphasis added.]

While Hamas did indeed issue an announcement May 6 claiming to accept a ceasefire, and many media outlets uncritically parroted the Hamas claim as fact, the terror organization in no way agreed to the proposal. In his May 7 press briefing, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stated explicitly (1:28):

Let me just make one thing clear which is that Hamas did not accept a ceasefire proposal. Hamas responded and their response made several suggestions. It’s not the same as accepting. That statement that was issued yesterday – that was widely reported – I don’t blame the reporting – it’s what the statement said – is not an accurate reflection of what happened. They responded as people do in a negotiation process but it was not an acceptance.

In response to communication from CAMERA’s Israel office, editors commendably amended the online article to state:

A week into the two-week rotation — on May 6 — came news that Hamas said it had accepted the terms of a cease-fire proposed by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, a claim U.S. and Israeli officials disputed.

In addition, a correction appended to the article states:

For the record:

Previously, The Los Angeles Times published an erroneous page-one print edition headline May 7, stating: “Hamas says yes to truce; Israel mulls over terms; Announcement comes after leaflets dropped in Rafah ordered civilians to evacuate.” As of this writing, The Times has not yet corrected that headline.