No point just taking the militants. Today's Gazan women and kids are the fodder for tomorrow's Hamas militants.
Israeli forces attacked a United Nations school where Palestinians fleeing the fighting had taken refuge. Israeli tank fire is said, by Israeli media, to have killed 30, possibly 40 of the civilians inside. From The New York Times:
Reuters reported that two tank shells exploded outside the school, spraying shrapnel inside and outside the building where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge from the fighting. It cited medical sources at two hospitals, who said the dead were either people taking shelter in the school or local residents.
Israel has been criticized in the past for the inaccuracy of its shelling. The Israeli Army has repeatedly emphasized that its operation is not aimed at Gaza’s residents, amid sensitivity to deep opposition worldwide to the toll on civilians in Gaza.
But parts of Gaza, a narrow coastal strip with a population of 1.5 million, are among the most densely crowded areas in the world, and artillery and tank fire can easily cause collateral damage. In November 2006, Israel all but stopped firing tank and artillery shells into Gaza after 18 Palestinian civilians, most from one family, were killed by Israeli shells that missed their target and hit a row of houses in Beit Hanoun.
The paper reports Israeli tanks also hit another, clearly marked, UN Relief and Works Agency school where 400 Palestinians had taken refuge. The Israeli gunners managed to kill only three.
Israeli forces attacked a United Nations school where Palestinians fleeing the fighting had taken refuge. Israeli tank fire is said, by Israeli media, to have killed 30, possibly 40 of the civilians inside. From The New York Times:
Reuters reported that two tank shells exploded outside the school, spraying shrapnel inside and outside the building where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge from the fighting. It cited medical sources at two hospitals, who said the dead were either people taking shelter in the school or local residents.
Israel has been criticized in the past for the inaccuracy of its shelling. The Israeli Army has repeatedly emphasized that its operation is not aimed at Gaza’s residents, amid sensitivity to deep opposition worldwide to the toll on civilians in Gaza.
But parts of Gaza, a narrow coastal strip with a population of 1.5 million, are among the most densely crowded areas in the world, and artillery and tank fire can easily cause collateral damage. In November 2006, Israel all but stopped firing tank and artillery shells into Gaza after 18 Palestinian civilians, most from one family, were killed by Israeli shells that missed their target and hit a row of houses in Beit Hanoun.
The paper reports Israeli tanks also hit another, clearly marked, UN Relief and Works Agency school where 400 Palestinians had taken refuge. The Israeli gunners managed to kill only three.
In an effort to ease the notorious Gaza overcrowding, the Israeli air force has taken to eliminating Palestinians by the dozen. From The Guardian:
Elsewehere, at least 12 members of an extended family, including seven young children, were killed in an air strike on their house in Gaza City. The bodies of the Daya family were pulled from the rubble of a house in Gaza city's Zeitoun district after it was hit by two Israeli missiles. The dead included seven children aged from one to 12 years, three women and two men. Nine other people were believed to be trapped in the rubble.
Missing Arafat.
ReplyDeleteI think it's important at times like this to remember how for years the IDF repeatedly shelled the Mukataa, Arafat's compound in Ramallah, and yet managed never even to bruise the man himself.
They can miss when they really want to.
Also known as Bush doctrine - pre-emptive strikes.
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ReplyDeleteThe Israelis keep complaining that Hamas militants are using women and children as 'human shields'. Every time I hear that, I wonder: what if a gunman walked into a kindergarten class and took everyone there hostage? Does that mean the police would be justified in opening fire through the windows to take him out? Or maybe they could just toss a grenade in there, or even blow up the whole school for good measure?
ReplyDeleteAfter all, we can't let some crazy gunman get away just because he's hiding behind a "human shield".