Hamas charged on Monday that Al-Jazeera´s coverage of the escalating violence in Gaza is "unprecedented" in its "lack of balance."

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri wrote on his Facebook page that Al- Jazeera´s coverage of events in Gaza showed a "bias against Palestinians" and that the Qatar-based news agency considered them "less important" than other Arabs.

Abu Zuhri told the Hamas-affiliated Quds.net he was "puzzled" that the rocket salvos fired from Gaza and Israeli counter-strikes were not receiving more coverage.

He also described Al-Jazeera´s coverage as "downplayed and hashed over," saying they were not taking the story "seriously."

Al-Jazeera´s reporting on the recent uptick in Gaza hostilities has taken a strong ´Palestinian viewpoint´ lead, but also included quotes from Israeli officials and an up-to-date account of rocket attacks on Israel.

It has also kept the events in Gaza in its leading news items on its web-page since last Friday.

However, like most English-language news outlets from the Arab world, Al-Jazeera has treated the events in Gaza as one of many stories unfolding – and not its most important.

Events in Syria have uniformly dominated the Arab press in recent days – followed by stories from Afghanistan, Gaza, and Nigeria.

Hamas security forces have increasingly targeted journalists in Gaza in recent months, assaulting and kidnapping those whose coverage they disaprove of. (IsraelNationalNews © 2012 03/12/12)