Someone Get A Map, and a Fact Checker for AFP

Palestinans celebrated the first day of the “liberation” of Gaza, scavenging through abandoned settlements for booty and taking joyous dips in the once off-limit Mediterranean sea.

If idyllic beach scenes paid testament to the Palestinian people’s desire for normalcy, the grim scenes of men looting the settlement rubble revealed the dark side of the Gaza Strip as Israel ended its 38-year occupation.

The day also had a tragic twist for five people who flocked to the seaside, drowning in the waters that were for so long forbidden to them.

This last part doesn't pass the sniff test.

The Gaza Strip sits on the Med. Gaza City is on the Med. Nearly every Palestinian living in Gaza is within five miles of the seashore. They've had access to the Med all along. But don't take my word for it.

Try what Freedomsound found, or what the BBC carried a while back. Or, maybe check out these professional photographs of Gaza, which clearly show Palestinians enjoying swimming and frolicking in the Med.

So why would AFP try and slip that comment in there? It isn't true. Are they opining as to what they wish the situation was before Israel left? Or are they trying to revise history by putting Israel in an even more negative light?

I say that they're lying, and that the media is purposefully misstating the facts as part of an agenda.

Oh, and if you need a map to understand things: