Gaza Beach Deaths NOT Israel's Fault

From CNN this am below is a report about the TRAGIC deaths of a family and the dramatic picture found on the NY Times front page this past weekend of the young girl mourning the deaths of her family members.

Initial review of the scene provided disturbing evidence that the explosion was NOT from an artillery shell although EVERY NEWS organization IMMEDIATELY blamed an errant Israeli artillery shell fired in response to another Qassam missile attack against Israeli civilians. There was NO blast crater to begin with and the REFUSAL of Hamas to participate in the investigation raised immediate questions. It turns out that Hamas had planted land mines there in case of Israeli Commando's coming ashore to attack Qassam missile launch sites. Someone stepped on one and hence the picture of the young girl holding a severed adults leg in her hands immediately following the blast. A true tragedy - but not from an errant Israeli artillery shell. I wonder what type of apology or follow-up the main stream media will have? Any guesses from you guys.


Beach deaths 'not Israel's fault'
Nine killed in new Israeli air strikes on Gaza

Tuesday, June 13, 2006; Posted: 7:13 a.m. EDT (11:13 GMT)

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- 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.

The Israeli investigation concluded that the possibility any of the six artillery shells fired from the gunboat last Friday could have landed on the beach was "almost nil," the sources said.

The deaths of seven people -- all members of a Palestinian family having a beach picnic -- prompted the military wing of Hamas to resume rocket strikes against Israel after a hiatus of more than a year.

The Israel Defense Forces report, to be presented to the Israeli Defense Minister and Israeli Chief of Staff Tuesday, will cite several factors that led to the conclusion that the explosion was caused by a mine planted on the beach by Palestinian militants, the sources said.

An Israeli commando unit used the beach to enter Gaza for a mission in recent weeks, prompting the militants to place the mines, the sources said.

Intelligence information gathered by Israeli investigators showed that Hamas quickly removed the remaining mines from the beach after the blast, the sources said.

Investigators were able to locate where five of the six shells fired from the gunboat Friday landed and none of them were near the beach, the sources said. The sixth shell -- the first to be fired -- could not have killed the family because it was fired further north and too early, the sources said.

Adding to the conclusion that it was not an Israeli shell that killed the family was an examination of photographs of the crater on the beach. The sources said experts found it was the type of crater caused by a planted explosive, not by an artillery shell landing from above.

Finally, shrapnel removed from three of the injured by doctors at Israeli hospitals was not the from an artillery shell, the sources said.

At least nine Palestinians, including two children, were killed Tuesday when an Israeli military aircraft fired missiles at a car in northern Gaza, Israeli and Palestinian sources said.

Israel Defense Forces said the car was en route to a site where Qassam rockets have been fired into Israeli territory.

Five Qassam rockets landed on the Israeli side of the Gaza border Monday morning, causing no injuries or significant damage, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The Monday launches followed a series of at least 70 rockets fired into Israel from Gaza since Friday, wounding four Israeli civilians, the IDF said.

CNN's Michal Zippori in Jerusalem contributed to this report