Thursday, July 17, 2014

Gaza Beach Shelling Eyewitnesses

My Right Word

Let's review eyewitness accounts of yesterday's sheeling of the beach when four Arab youngsters were killed:


I had returned to my small seaside hotel around 4 p.m. to file photos to New York when I heard a loud explosion. My driver and I rushed to the window to see what had happened. A small shack atop a sea wall at the fishing port had been struck by an Israeli bomb or missile and was burning. ...
...A small metal shack with no electricity or running water on a jetty in the blazing seaside sun does not seem like the kind of place frequented by Hamas militants, the Israel Defense Forces’ intended targets.
The IDF seems to have targeted a specific structure, not an open area or the boys.


Beaumont, who has been in Gaza for the last nine days, said that during the time he has been at the hotel, that area of the harbor has been hit by the IDF "at least three times." Following the explosion, "on the retaining wall there were puffs of smoke and we saw four people running along it.

The area, having been attacked "at least three times" previously, would seem to indicate a terrorist target.  You don't waste ordnance on children. 

Was Hamas launching rockets from there?

Was it a naval base?


It is not unusual for militants to launch rockets from sites near my hotel. Israeli missiles and shells have also landed pretty close to al-Deira, an old red stucco inn with a large terrace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Just a few hundred yards down the beach is the fishing harbor.

UPDATE of an acknowledgement from The Guardian:

A witness who identified himself only as Abu Ahmed said the boys had been scavenging for scrap metal when the first shell hit a nearby shipping container used in the past by Hamas security forces. He said the boys fled but a second projectile "hit all of them".


There you have it --- one, two, three.

And because of Hamas terror, four young kids lose their lives.




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