When opposing sides disagree about the unclear circumstances of a particular event, media outlets have an obligation to report the accounts of both sides of the disputed incident. When it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, disputed Palestinian fatalities are a fixture.
Thus, when sources on both sides agree that a Palestinian youth was killed while he was attacking troops, the clarity and consensus it itself newsworthy.
Yet, remarkably, when Reuters covered the Sept. 26 death of 16-year-old Palestinian Yousef Mohammed Fathi Sobh (also spelled Odeh or Sobeh), the leading news outlet ignored multiple Palestinian sources which confirmed the Israeli account that the teen was affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad and had fired on Israeli troops, prompting the fatal return fire (“Israeli troops kill five Hamas gunmen in West Bank raids: military“).
Thus, Defence for Children International – Palestine said about Yousef Sobeh:
Israeli forces shot and killed 15-year-old Yousef Mohammad Fathi Odeh today around 7 a.m. during armed clashes in the occupied West Bank village of Burqin, located near Jenin. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds after he picked up a firearm and fired at Israeli forces. (Emphasis added.)
An uncle of one of the Palestinians killed said he was a 16-year-old walking to school when he was shot.A military spokesperson said, “as far as we are concerned, all those killed were armed Hamas operatives, taking part in firefights”, but added he was checking the relative’s information.