Cozy Corner

It's more like soccer. Via Meryl's, Laurence shares with us this AP story:

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Militant groups in the Gaza Strip have agreed to stop firing missiles at Israel at midnight Saturday, senior Palestinian officials said.

The unilateral cease-fire is aimed at ending an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that began June 28, three days after militants raided an Israeli army post, killing two soldiers and capturing a third, 19-year-old Cpl. Gilad Shalit, the officials said on condition of anonymity because the agreement was reached at a closed meeting.

There are no timeouts. And you're out of substitutions. You started this, and now you'd like to all sit down on the field and try to get Israel to stop playing?

And since Meryl is down for the count, I'll ask: Is AP really the credentialed ambassador to the world for Hamas? If so, good to know.

Update: I just noticed this at the bottom of the AP story:

In fighting in Gaza on Friday, four people were killed — a Hamas activist and three relatives — in an explosion at his home in Gaza City, hospital officials said. Palestinians said the house was hit by an Israeli tank shell. The Israeli military denied using artillery or tanks.

Contrast that with what I noted here, where Ha'aretz reports that the IDF confirmed it was a tank shell, or at Israel Today:

An initial Israeli inquiry into the incident revealed that soldiers spotted two Palestinians attempting to fire an anti-tank missile at the forces out of a house's balcony. A tank fired a shell and the two suspects were hit.

The only thing I can posit is that since everyone knows that the IDF fired on the house (even the IDF, darn them for admitting it!), the AP will tell us that the IDF denies it, thus casting doubt on all IDF statements in the future. Or, maybe, they're just incompetent.