Three Palestinian children killed in IDF strike in northern Gaza - Haaretz

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Mon., September 03, 2007 Elul 20, 5767

Israel Time: 12:56 (EST+7)

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		Relatives of teen Palestinian cousins Yehiya and Mahmoud Ghazal attending their funeral in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun on Wednesday. (AP)

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Last update - 05:03 30/08/2007

Three Palestinian children killed in IDF strike in northern Gaza

By Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents and Agencies

Three young Palestinian cousins were killed on Wednesday in northern Gaza when the Israel Defense Forces attacked rocket launchers aimed at southern Israel.

Ten-year-old Mahmoud Ghazal and his 12-year-old cousin Yehiya Ghazal died immediately, medical sources in the Gaza Strip said. Their 10-year-old cousin Sara Ghazal was critically hurt in the strike, and died later from her wounds.

The Qassam launchers were deployed near Beit Hanun, on fields just outside the town's industrial zone. The children's family, which belongs to the Gaza's Bedouin population, lives nearby.

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The civilian area is frequently used by Palestinian militants to launch rocket attacks against southern Israel. The army said 92 rockets and 118 mortars fell in Israel over the past month.

Palestinian sources did not say whether the children were hired by militants to retrieve the launchers, or whether they approached the launchers out of curiosity. The IDF said the children were killed after an army tank fired on a Qassam launcher. According to the IDF, the tank's crew detected "unidentified movement and opened fire."

In a statement, the Israeli military said it "wishes to express sorrow" for the "use of teenagers in terror attacks." In the past the military has accused militants of sending children to pick up their rocket launchers, but it did not explicitly say the three dead children in Wednesday's incident were directly involved.

"The strike was the result of children being located in the area and aiding terror groups that are doing nothing to distance them from there," according to a statement issued by the army's spokesman.

A relative of the children, Wasfi Ghazal, said he heard the sound of an explosion and then children screaming. He held both Israel and the militant rocket squads responsible.

"We are victims of the occupation and victims of the misbehavior of some of the fighters who are randomly choosing our area to target Israel," he told The Associated Press.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the killing of the children, predicting violence would breed more violence. "This will add to the complexities and feed the fire," Erekat said.

Taher Nunu, a spokesman for the Islamic militant group Hamas that rules Gaza, said the attack on the heels of the meeting between Palestinian Authority Chairmn Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday reaffirms Israel's aggressive intentions and its disinterest in reaching an understanding with the Palestinians. He called on Abbas to stop meeting with Olmert.

About two hours earlier, a Qassam rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel and landed in fields just north of Kibbutz Nir-Am in the western Negev. The rocket did not cause any damage. On Tuesday, a Qassam rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza struck a home in the western Negev town of Sderot, lightly wounding one person.

In the West Bank, some 30 Palestinians were lightly wounded during an IDF arrest raid in the city of Qalqilyah.

Palestinian sources said most people's wounds were from tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets fired by IDF troops in the course of the operation.

Troops surrounded a cluster of houses in which the IDF said a wanted militant was hiding.

The troops called over loudspeakers for the militant to surrender, but were met with no response. During the operation IDF bulldozers demolished two of the houses in the compound in an attempt to force him out.

The militant managed to escape, but troops arrested another man who threw explosives at them.

The operation comes despite a renewed diplomatic drive to forge an agreement with Abbas and his Fatah-led government in the West Bank.

Olmert and Abbas met Tuesday in Jerusalem for broad talks that touched on the thorniest final-status issues dividing the sides' final borders, the future of Jerusalem, and Palestinian refugees.

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	Family affair
	Despite living within Qassam rocket range, the Menas say they lead happy lives.


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1.	The tank crew "detected movement" and fired	05:51	\|	Natallie Durson	30/08/07

2.	Natalie # 1	06:09	\|	JJ	30/08/07

3.	they are children 10,12,10 not teenagers	06:13	\|	Fay	30/08/07

4.	#1, You`re right, Natalie...	06:29	\|	Silvienne	30/08/07

5.	IDF at Their Best	07:04	\|	Aram	30/08/07

6.	IOF, a bunch of coward!!	07:07	\|	Niva dos santos	30/08/07

7.	Three children dead today, two last week..	07:10	\|	Silvienne	30/08/07

8.	So long as Hamas continues to use terror against Israelis, and	07:16	\|	Avihu	30/08/07

9.	for #`s 1 to 7	07:44	\|	Ari ben Yisrael	30/08/07

10.	Hamas sent children because they knew they could set Israel Up	07:57	\|	Shepherd	30/08/07

11.	PALESTINIAN CHILDREN KILLED	07:58	\|	Massalla	30/08/07

12.	Hamas Choice	08:02	\|	Ron	30/08/07

13.	again sad but not IDF fault	08:06	\|	vik	30/08/07

14.	no morals no shame	08:17	\|	refugee	30/08/07

15.	#9 No, there is no real need, Ari ben Yisrael	08:18	\|	Jonnboy	30/08/07

16.	War Crimes, a daily IDF affair	08:39	\|	Amin	30/08/07

17.	Three Palestinian children killed by Hamas	08:43	\|	Dan	30/08/07

18.	So, what`s the problem?	08:46	\|	Avraham	30/08/07

19.	Not our fault	08:55	\|	Gordon	30/08/07

20.	# 18 Avraham	09:16	\|	Nick Ferriman	30/08/07

21.	IDF	09:24	\|	George	30/08/07

22.	4. Silvienne: you would protest	09:30	\|	idiotsnotwanted	30/08/07

23.	# 1 Natallie Durson	09:32	\|	Nick Ferriman	30/08/07

24.	Amin, perhaps you should rea Avihu`s post, # 8, to	09:51	\|	Ruti	30/08/07

25.	#18 What`s the problem, Avraham?	09:54	\|	Johnboy	30/08/07

26.	# 13 Vik	10:00	\|	Nick Ferriman	30/08/07

27.	the words of Bialik	10:15	\|	raymond deane	30/08/07

28.	JUST INNOCENT CHILDREN PLAYING AROUND	10:19	\|	indrajaya	30/08/07

29.	# 8 Avihu	10:35	\|	Nick Ferriman	30/08/07

30.	The IDF are evil terrorists	10:46	\|	Stephen Murray	30/08/07

31.	to Johnboy #15	10:54	\|	Geoff	30/08/07

32.	IDFs best excuse	11:25	\|	Big	30/08/07

33.	Why	11:39	\|	Big	30/08/07

34.	How come	11:54	\|	Big	30/08/07

35.	IDF, a bunch fo criminal lier and hi tec killer	13:29	\|	Dav	30/08/07

36.	And how do we know that the children were not "militants"?	16:56	\|	Murray of Montreal	30/08/07

37.	#15 Jonnboy	17:16	\|	Murray of Montreal	30/08/07

38.	#30 Stephen Murray; Are the IDF actually evil terrorists	17:34	\|	Ian Robertson	30/08/07

39.	# 38 Ian Robertson	19:45	\|	Nick Ferriman	30/08/07

40.	#38, Ian Robertson	23:47	\|	Silvienne	30/08/07

41.	#33, Big	23:49	\|	Silvienne	30/08/07

42.	#37 that`s a mighty find list of pointless points, Murray	09:53	\|	Johnboy	03/09/07

43.	#36 Back atcha, Murray	09:59	\|	Johnboy	03/09/07

44.	#31 To geoff	11:13	\|	Johnboy	03/09/07

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