Reuters Headline On Israel’s Demand For Long-Term Truce: “Israel Rebuffs Temporary Truce” (Plus: Hamas Rejects Truce. Again.)

One of the more elegant instances of rank media bias from the last few days. The headline: “Israel rebuffs ‘temporary’ Gaza truce.” The story:

Israel said on Wednesday it would not agree to a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that Hamas could use to rearm, underscoring the gap between the two sides in Egyptian-brokered talks. Hamas has rejected an open-ended truce, seeking instead a more limited six-month agreement that could be renewed, according to Arab diplomats. “Israel will not accept a situation where Hamas gets a temporary period of quiet just to rearm and regroup and that ends with further rocket barrages on Israel,” said Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. “Israel seeks a durable quiet that contains a total absence of hostile fire from Gaza into Israel and a working mechanism to prevent Hamas from rearming,” Regev added after Olmert met Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defence Minister Ehud Barak.

Now you might think that a more appropriate headline would’ve been something like “Israel pushes for durable truce” or “Hamas rejects long-term truce.” But that would violate the longstanding Reuters policy of implying that Israel’s insistence on genuine peace is violent warmongering.

For what it’s worth: The Egyptians have made it pretty clear to Hamas that their continued intransigence will end with Israel dismantling them. Some Hamas leaders even seem to know that. They have the opportunity right now to accept a nudge-wink truce that Israeli defense officials admit will allow them to rearm potentially within weeks:

Hamas will not agree to stop smuggling weaponry into the Gaza Strip under a new cease-fire with Israel, and the deployment of US military engineers along the Gaza-Egypt border will likely be incapable of stopping them, defense officials say… One of the options being considered is deployment of an American military engineering force along the Philadelphi Corridor to assist the Egyptians in stopping the smuggling… According to Israeli estimates, there were around 300 active smuggling tunnels along the Philadelphi Corridor before Operation Cast Lead. Some 100 have been destroyed [as of last week] by the IAF. Despite the attacks, the IDF believes Hamas is still trying to smuggle new weaponry into Gaza via the tunnels throughout Rafah.

But – as of this morning – Hamas is still Hamas:

Hamas’s top political chief rejected Israel’s conditions for a Gaza cease-fire and demanded an immediate opening of the besieged territory’s borders, taking a tough line Friday as he asked Arab countries to back him by cutting off any ties with Israel. Mashaal sought Arab support in a strongly worded address to the summit, insisting Hamas cannot stop fighting until border crossings into the Gaza Strip are opened. “We will not accept Israel’s conditions for a cease-fire,” Mashaal told the summit. He said Hamas demands that “the aggression stop,” Israeli troops withdraw and crossings into Gaza be opened immediately.

This is the exact same thing they’ve been saying all week. But UN Secretary General Ban’s take on the situation is that the problem is “Israel’s political will.” Obviously. Because Israel is “rebuffing” truces. Obviously.

References and previously after the jump…

References:
* Israel rebuffs ‘temporary’ Gaza truce [Reuters]
* MSM Headlines Blame Israel For Scuttling UN Ceasefire That Hamas Unequivocally Rejects [MR]
* Egypt to Hamas: Sign truce or risk collapse of Gaza regime [YNet]
* ANALYSIS / Egypt’s Gaza truce plan is mostly bad for Hamas [Ha'aretz]
* Defense officials: Truce won’t stop smuggling [JPost]
* Ceasefire Would Allow Iran To Rearm Hamas Within Weeks [MR]
* Mashaal: We won’t accept truce conditions [YNet]
* No, Of Course Hamas Didn’t Accept A Ceasefire [MR]
* Hamas: Egypt offer for Gaza truce doesn’t meet our demands [Ha'aretz]
* UN Chief Ban: May take `few more days` to work out details of Gaza truce [Ha'aretz]