Your daily dose of AP media bias

So, let’s see if we can parse this article.

2 People Killed By Israeli Army in Gaza

Ohmigod! The IDF killed two people for no reason?

JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday, the army and Palestinian security officials said.

The attack occurred in a field near the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, which is often used as a base for rocket attacks on Israel.

Wait a minute. They were killed in a field used for rocket attacks? Really? Does that mean they were trying to launch rockets at Israel?

Palestinian security officials said the two people were killed when the Israeli army conducted an airstrike on a car.

Um, hello, AP, were they trying to launch rockets at Israel?

However, the Israeli army said it was not an airstrike, but a group of soldiers who hit two Palestinians who had come to the area to collect launchers used to fire rockets over the past week.

Oh, they were coming to collect rocket launchers. So, um, does that mean they were the people who launched them in the first place? Or connected to them?

Ya think?

Once again, take note of the usual AP style: Never identify the dead palestinians as terrorists, or possible terrorists. Never use a name or even the word “spokesman” for the Israeli army. Always use the impersonal “the israeli army said.” Always rely on palestinian eyewitnesses or “officials” for the facts. And never, ever mention that the kassam rockets that are launched almost daily into Israel from Gaza cause injuries and deaths without using the caveats of “homemade” or “crude rockets.”