Monday, June 12, 2006

Military Probe Likely to Conclude that IDF Not to Blame for Gaza Bombing

Amos Harel reports that an examination of shrapnel removed from wounded victims, footage of the explosion, photographs of the crater, intelligence, and firing data suggest that the explosions that killed 7 people on a Gaza beach were probably not caused by an errant IDF artillery shell. The final conclusions of the investigation will be presented on Tuesday night.

CNN has also picked up the story, reporting that:
An explosion on a Gaza beach that killed seven people last week was caused by explosives planted there by Palestinian militants, not artillery fire from an Israeli navy gunboat, Israeli military sources said.

2 comments:

Laila said...

I'm from Iran and have come to find your blog through a Lebanese blog you had left some comments over there.
Really you think about such a sensitive issue when different sources claim opposite reasons for the killing on the beach, the sources you mention are reliable? Anyway, I am really happy that the world and its politics has improved so that the Israelis can not repeat what it did in Deir Yassin, Qana, Sabr and Shatila. I mean, now for killing a couple of people they have to explain and make excuses and even try to put the blame on others.

J. said...

السلام عليكم يا ليلى
Welcome Laila! If you were to read more carefully, you would note that the post that you are commenting on did not endorse any position but, rather, presented recent news reports that cast doubt on the Palestinians' version of events. Hamas has a record of shifting blaming Israel for killings caused by its own carelessness. It is well known, for example, that Hamas rockets accidentally killed Palestinians marching in support of Hamas at a pre-election rally.

You are wrong, by the way, to blame Israel for Deir Yassin and Sabra & Shatila. The Deir Yassin massacre was carried out by mainly by irregulars belonging to Jewish militias/nationalist groups called the Irgun/Etzel and Lehi. It took place before the founding of the State of Israel. In the case of Sabra and Shatila, Lebanese forces deserve more blame for the murder of innocents there than does Israel. Finally, I take issue with the way you group Qana, which was clearly a tragic accident caused by errant Israeli artillery directed at Hizbullah, with Deir Yassin and Sabra & Shatila.

I could give you a long list of atrocities committed against Jews by Palestinian Arabs, before and after the establishment of the state of Israel. I'm sure you were never taught about the Nebi Musa riots of April 1920 during which Arab mobs stirred up by the mufti, Haj Amin al-Husayni, rioted and killed innocent Jews in Jerusalem. I doubt also that you know about the killings of hundreds of unarmed innocent Jews by Palestinian Arabs in 1929 in the cities of Hebron, Jerusalem and Sfad.

But all of this talk is futile. You could spend an eternity debating which side deserves the status of "righteous victim" and you would never get anywhere. I'm not happy about the killing of innocent civilians in the past two days. I am, however, glad that there is a state of Israel so that Jews have a refuge in the face of massacres.