God, I hate the AP

Ten terrorists tried to use horses booby-trapped with explosives to attack from the Gaza border and possibly kidnap some Israeli soldiers. Let’s take a look at how this attack was portrayed in the Israeli media.

An Israel Defense Forces’ investigation into a major terror attack thwarted Monday morning south of the Karni crossing in the Gaza Strip revealed that the gunmen, believed to be affiliated with al-Qaeda, arrived at the crossing with several trucks and at least five horses loaded with explosive devices and mines.

According to the army, it is possible that the gunmen had planned to kidnap a soldier.

[…] About 10 to 12 terrorists took the horses off the truck and began planting the devices near the fence. At this stage, they were spotted by an IDF force and began firing at soldiers from Golani’s 13th Regiment.

The troops fired back, and the terrorists tried to escape and return the horses into the truck. At least four gunmen were killed in the battle.

Pretty straightforward. So what’s AP’s take?

4 Palestinians with explosives-laden horses killed
Gaza militants with explosives-laden horses approached the Israeli border early Monday, igniting a battle that left four gunmen dead, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.

Note how the headline, once again, does not use the words “militant” or “gunmen.” It’s yet another example of subtle bias—look, the mean, mean Israelis not only are killing Palestinians, but now they’re killing horses, too!

And not the phrase “approached the Israeli border.” Oh, they were just wandering up to the fence to have a look on the other side, were they? Well, according to the AP, yes. From a photo caption:

A group of around 10 gunmen were trying to cross the border fence into Israel when they were spotted by troops, according to Palestinian security officials.

They were not “trying to cross the border.” They were trying to murder Israelis.

A gun battle erupted when gunmen, under cover of early morning fog, fired at an Israeli patrol near the Karni crossing on the Israeli side of the border, the Israeli military said.

At least the Reuters headline isn’t as ridiculous as the AP’s:

Israelis kill three gunmen, horse on Gaza border

Oh, wait. Yes it is. How critical is it to the story that the horse be part of the headline? Why isn’t the headline “Palestinians attack IDF with booby-trapped horses”?

Of course we know the answer to that. Because that would mean that the Palestinians are not the innocent victims of Israeli aggression that the media narrative has been portraying these many years.