In its August 30, 2005 issue, the French daily Le Monde published an article entitled “A Suicidal Attack in Beersheba broke the truce established for the Israeli retreat from Gaza”.
This information was presented as factual and objective: the violation of the truce is attributable to a Palestine kamikaze which, according to the article, acted under a joint order of the Islamist Jihad and the Brigades of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs. The attack resulted in one person dead (the kamikaze himself) and a score of wounded.
However, later ahead, the article said that the kamikaze acted as a “reaction” to a raid launched by Tsahal: Immediately after the end of the evacuation from Gaza, the Israeli army had tried to kill leaders of these organizations. Five people were killed after a clash in Tulkarem.
In short, at the request of Sharon’s government, the Islamist Jihad had accepted not to take advantage of the transient weakness of the Israelis during the retreat stage and respect a total truce – a commitment that they kept. At the end of the retreat, when the Israelis were no longer in a weakness position, they breached their word, attacked Palestinian leaders and killed five people. The Jihad, in return, ordered the attack of Beersheba. However, for Le Monde, which takes things for granted, it was not the Tsahal killing raid that broke the truce but the kamikaze answer.