Most Arab media reports a Hamas victory.
Photo: AFP
Arab media reports on Gaza Ceasefire
Egyptian op-eds slam both Israel, Hamas for conduct during war; Qatar headlines declare Hamas victory, Lebanese media falls in line.
As the dust began to settle one day after the signing of an open-ended ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Arab media sources from across the Muslim world weighed in on the outcome of the military operation with some joining celebrations of a Palestinian victory and others sharply criticizing Gaza's militant organizations.
"Here in Cairo: The permanent ceasefire in Gaza", read the headline in Egypt's paper Al-Masry Al-Youm. The publication is aligned in political slant with the views of the current Egyptian regime under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, a strong opponent of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt as well as Hamas, their Gazan allies.
Gaza victorious. A cartoon from Jordan.
While Al-Masry Al-Youm took a relatively objective approach in writing about the conflict, another publication known as Al-Gomhuria, also a media ally to the Egyptian regime took a more significant stance in opposition to Hamas by publishing an op-ed entitled "The empty numbers".
In the opinion piece, author Salah Attia condemned Israel's military actions as war crimes, but then sharply criticized Hamas saying that rockets fired into Israel by Gaza militants accomplished nothing and therefore served no purpose. "Israel is very happy when Hamas does this. It gives them an excuse to continue their massacres in Gaza."
Arab Pride. A cartoon from Qatar.
"The Hamas movement continues listening to voices from Qatar and Khaled Mashal who stays there and enjoys his time at the gym of one of the most luxurious hotels in Qatar," said Attia in the article.
Qatari media reports Palestinian victory
Unsurprisingly, the leaders in calling Hamas' efforts a victory were publications from Qatar. Al-Watan first ran the headline "Hamas: We won". In another paper, Al-Raya ran with a front-page announcing that, "The opposition won: Abu Mazen thanks Qatar, celebrations in Gaza".
Victory in Gaza. Headlines from Qatar.
Al-Arab took more of a pro-Qatari than pro-Hamas stance saying that, "Doha welcomed the agreement in Cairo and said that the first part was accomplished thanks to the firm stance of the Palestinian people. Qatar said that it was present throughout, to help rehabilitation in the Strip. Qatar made great efforts to help Gaza after the abandoned them and stood in line with Israel."
Lebanese media: "Israel in shock"
Lebanon's Al-Akhbar, which has ties to Hezbollah, also reported from the side of victory celebrations in Gaza and ran with a sub-head reading, "Israel in shock: Intelligence failure in handling the rockets."
Another Hezbollah supporter, Al-Safir, chose the headline, "Gaza won by its blood." Even publications in Syria, whose regime has had a falling out with Hamas since the beginning of the local civil war claimed in headlines that Israel had caved to Hamas' demands.
