4 siblings killed in IDF strike in Gaza

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Four Palestinian children, all members of one family, were killed Monday morning in Israel Defense Forces strike in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources have reported.

According to the report, an IDF shell hit a house in the town of Beit Hanoun, killing four members of the Abu-Muaatak family – a baby named Muasab and his brothers Salah, Hana and Rudeineh – all of them less than six years of age. Their mother was initially in a state of brain death and later died of her wounds.

A 15-year-old boy was also killed in the strike while making his way to school. Nine people were reportedly injured, three of them sustaining serious to critical wounds.

A Palestinian source in the Strip said that a member of the al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad's military wing, was also killed by IDF soldiers."

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3536673,00.html

[indepat]

1. What would Israel have to do for its terrorist actions to be labeled as

terrorism by the US and the MSM? :shrug:

[subsuelo]

3. If this was an Israeli family that was killed by Palestinians

What would we be hearing and reading about today in the news?

But since the family was Palestinian, we can continue gossiping about Obama's ex-pastor instead.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

4. Look at the MSNBC headline: Palestinians say 4 dead in Israeli attack on Gaza

Can you IMAGINE if 4 Jewish Israelis had been killed?

We'd be watching funeral coverage for a month.

[subsuelo]

5. Note how it's always "Palestinians say" as if there is some doubt

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Vegasaurus]

7. Untrue

Yahoo news, as well as CNN, the NYTimes, etc. all have headlines of this story, written no differently than an Israeli death by militants.

Israeli strike kills 7 Palestinians

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - An Israeli tank shell slammed into a tiny Gaza Strip home Monday during a skirmish with gunmen, killing a Palestinian woman and four of her children as they prepared to sit down for breakfast, officials and relatives said.

Does that seem like there is no press on Palestinian deaths?

Of course not.

[indepat]

11. By George, I think I've got it: one must keep one's priorities straight

:D

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[indepat]

14. Ouch! But it's not Israel's fault for Uncle Sam has green lighted them to do whatever: best I

recall Uncle Sam hardly even batted an eye when Israel warplane(s) blew the USS Liberty right out of the water, oops. sorry, no problem sort of thing. Of course I'm exaggerating and being a tad facetious, but a mountain of truth nonetheless. :D

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[indepat]

16. Yes, I remember now: Israeli combatants mistook the big ole Liberty for some teeny-weenie Egyptian

ship. Inexplicable mistakes like this often occur in the heat of battle, friendly fire does take it toll, and one is perfect. Besides Israel, I seem to recall, paid compensation for the sailors killed and the hundreds wounded, demonstrating their sorrow for this grievous mistake. :D

[indepat]

18. Thanks mods

[Crunchy Frog]

13. Some lives are just inherently more valuable than others.

:shrug:

[ProgressiveMuslim]

2. Those goddam militants! nt

[bemildred]

8. Our Defense Forces, our war crimes, our terrorism

---

But the same crime, the same - let's call it by its real name - atrocity, has been committed time and again, under the same circumstances, for the same reasons, with the same indefensible result.

---

What we do know is that a mother in Beit Hanoun, a devastated area of northern Gaza from which Qassams and mortars are fired at Israel, was seeing to the breakfast of her four small children Monday morning when their world exploded.

---

Witnesses have told us that the shell, aimed from an optically enhanced, state-of-the-art fire control system, fired from a barrel which increases accuracy, sheared through the roof and the ceiling and killed everyone inside, among them killed Rudina Abu Meatik, 6, her brothers, Saleh, 4 and Mousab, 15 months, and her three-year-old sister, Hana, 3.

We console ourselves, here on the Israeli side of the border, that, unlike the suicide bomber, the box cutter terrorist, the drive-by machine gunner, the Merkaz Harav gunman, the deaths of the children and their mother in Beit Hanoun were a terrible case of bad fortune.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/978661.html

[msmcghee]

9. Oh oh! Looks like there's another side to the story.

IDF source: Palestinian children were not killed by soldiers
By JPOST.COM STAFF

The Palestinian mother and her four children who were killed Monday during IDF ops in Beit Hanun were not hit by a tank shell but rather were killed when ammunition carried by gunmen exploded, Army Radio quoted an IDF source as saying.

According to the unofficial source, the forces operating in the Gaza Strip town identified two gunmen who were carrying large bags. When the soldiers opened fire on them the bags exploded, causing the deaths of the family members.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208870512236&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

***********************************

I'd have to say that it would be unlikely that the IDF would fire artillery at a location where they had soldiers on foot in the vicinity.

Notice that the words "IDF Source" is even printed before the actual headline - identifying it as the words of the IDF - just to be sure no-one thinks that the JP is stating that the "Palestinian children were not killed by soldiers".

Added on edit: The op by Bradley Thurston is not a news story it is an editorial where Brad is generally blaming Israel for IDF "atrocities". He says that "witnesses" said that the deaths were cause by a highly accurate tank round. He does not name the witnesses or say that he talked with them firsthand and knows they are experts on what kind of electronic gun-sight and barrel that were used on the tank that (supposedly) fired the shell.

I don't know what actually happened here but there certainly appears to be two sides to the story.

[msmcghee]

10. And now, this from Y-Net.

IDF: Palestinian family killed by terrorist bomb

Mother, four children killed in Gaza Strip Monday morning died after explosive device carried by terrorists blew up, IDF says. Army inquiry shows that device exploded after terrorists were targeted by Air Force

Hanan Greenberg
Published: 04.28.08, 18:54 / Israel News

Army says terrorist bomb killed Gaza family: The death of five members of the Abu Meatak family in the Gaza Strip earlier Monday was caused after an explosive device carried by terrorists blew up, the IDF said.


Four Palestinian children and their mother were killed after the army targeted terrorists in the area. The IDF strike left a total of seven Palestinians dead.


Defense minister says that by operating from within civilian areas, Hamas effectively contributes to high number of civilian casualties in Gaza

The army's investigation into the incident concluded that two Palestinian terrorists were attacked and hit from the air, causing the bomb they were carrying to explode and destroying the Abu Meatak family home. The house was hit while the family was at the breakfast table. <snip>

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3537050,00.html

[ProgressiveMuslim]

17. Healthlander says it best:

Well... he shows it, anyway.

http://heathlander.wordpress.com/2008/04/28/massacre-in-gaza/

[oberliner]

19. IDF releases clip clearing itself of blame for Gaza family deaths

<snip>

IDF Spokesperson's Office said the panel concluded that, "one gunman was targeted and hit from the air. As a result a strong secondary explosion occurred" when ammunition and weaponry he was carrying in a back pack was detonated.

This "secondary" blast was what killed the mother and her four small children, according to the Spokesperson's Office statement, which continued: "The second gunman was targeted and hit as well, causing an even bigger explosion ... Both explosions were significantly stronger than those caused by the IDF attacks against them."

Four militants, armed with weapons, are clearly seen walking near the home in the clip.

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/980197.html