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An IDF armoured personnel carrier before entering Gaza on Sunday. (Reuters)
Last update - 21:57 28/04/2008
IDF: Gaza blast was caused by militants' explosives
By News Agencies
Tags: IDF, beit hanoun, Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that a blast that killed six Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza earlier in the day was not caused by an IDF tank shell, as the Palestinians had earlier reported, but was rather a result of militants' explosives.

The IDF investigated the incident, which left a Beit Hanoun mother and her four children dead along with a 17-year-old passerby, and concluded that the deadly explosion occurred when the Israel Air Force, targeting two Palestinian gunmen, fired a missile and hit the gunmen's bags, which were full of ammunition. The missile caused the ammunition cache to explode with force, setting off a chain reaction of additional explosions.

Palestinian medics identified the dead children as sisters Rudina and Hana Abu Meatik, ages 6 and 3; and their brothers, Saleh, 4 and Mousab, 15 months.
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The children's mother, Miyasar, was critically wounded in the explosion and succumbed to her wounds shortly after. Her two older children were also critically wounded in the strike, the officials said.

A 17-year-old Palestinian civilian who was passing by the home was also killed in the explosion, medical workers said.

Hours after the explosion, Defense Minister Ehud Barak blamed Hamas for the continuing deaths of Gaza residents, saying "we see Hamas as responsible for everything that happens there, for all deaths... The army is acting, and will continue to act, against Hamas, including inside the Gaza Strip. Hamas is also responsible, by way of its activity within the civilian population, for part of the casualties among uninvolved civilians," he said.

Barak spoke after Palestinian officials said IDF troops had shelled a house in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, killing six Palestinian civilians. Residents said an Israeli projectile smashed through the ceiling of a one-story house where a family was eating breakfast.

In a separate incident, IDF soldiers killed a Palestinian gunman from Islamic Jihad during fighting in the area, the faction said.

An IDF spokeswoman confirmed troops were operating in Beit Hanoun, a northern Gaza border town from where Palestinian militants often launch rockets into Israel.

The IAF and a tank unit fired at groups of gunmen that tried to approach troops in the town but no houses were targeted, the spokeswoman said.

Hamas said one of its snipers shot an IDF soldier operating in the town.

The IDF spokeswoman said a soldier was lightly wounded by gunfire before the air force strikes.

Another soldier was also lightly wounded Monday afternoon while participating in an operation in the northern Strip.

Meanwhile, militants in Gaza launched at least nine Qassam rockets and nine mortar shells at the western Negev on Monday morning.

The deaths in the northern Gaza town cast another shadow on Egyptian efforts to forge a cease-fire between Israel and militant groups and end violence threatening U.S.-brokered Palestinian statehood talks.

"This aggression does not serve efforts being exerted to achieve calm, and it obstructs the peace process," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in a statement carried by the WAFA news agency.

Hamas said the strike demonstrated that Israel was not interested in a cease-fire.

"The continued Zionist massacres are new proof that the Occupation [Israel] is not interested in calm, and therefore Palestinian armed wings should continue to respond to the aggression by all possible means," Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said.

Israel is waiting for the results of talks between Hamas and other militant Palestinian groups in Cairo this Wednesday before it takes a position on an Egyptian-mediated cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

Security officials have said that if Hamas cannot restrain the smaller groups, first and foremost Islamic Jihad, there will not be much point to the agreement.

Without completely restraining the smaller groups, the firing of Qassam rockets from the Strip will soon resume, they say, as has happened in the past.

IDF lifts Passover closure on Palestinian territories

Meanwhile, the IDF on Monday said would lift a blanket closure of the West Bank and Gaza it imposed for 10 days over the Passover
holiday.

A military statement said the closure ended Monday morning. It mainly affected the West Bank, since Gaza has been virtually sealed by Israel and Egypt since Hamas seized power there last June.

The lockdown, imposed from April 18, barred Palestinians from entering Israel. Israel routinely seals the Palestinian territories during Jewish holidays, seen as a time of high risk of militant attack as Jews gather in public places for prayer and celebration.

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      1.   Whn are arabs going to stop complaining and start improving their 09:43  |  Denise Thompson 28/04/08
      2.   The incident occured .... 09:48  |  Jamie 28/04/08
      3.   Where is the condemnation of Hamas? 09:51  |  Joe Sittizen 28/04/08
      4.   Condemn Hamas??????? 09:57  |  max 28/04/08
      5.   Bless their hearts 10:01  |  RW 28/04/08
      6.   Deceptive headline: Let the facts come in 10:16  |  Abraham Saks 28/04/08
      7.   Sorry... 10:35  |  Linichka 28/04/08
      8.   Cowardly murderers still at it. 10:46  |  Marilyn 28/04/08
      9.   Haniyeh, Abbas and Olmert - HAVE YOU NO HEART? 10:57  |  Sammy 28/04/08
      10.   Civilians should not be in the battlefield 11:09  |  Shlomo from Tel-Aviv 28/04/08
      11.   Bless them 11:19  |  Denise 28/04/08
      12.   #1 what are u reading? 11:22  |  Amir 28/04/08
      13.   Denise has it right 11:22  |  Hilda 28/04/08
      14.   Egypt and the Arab refugees. 11:22  |  Robert Bernier 28/04/08
      15.   MAX - YES Condemn HAMAS !!!! 11:25  |  Dr eric 28/04/08
      16.   The IDF should target the terrorists wherever they operate from 11:28  |  Rafi 28/04/08
      17.   Enough already ... 11:30  |  Bruno 28/04/08
      18.   How can we learn whether the U.S. is morally sick to the bone ??? 11:30  |  Swiss (Dino) 28/04/08
      19.   Se7en innocent kids & Th3ee tyrants killers 11:32  |  Nour 28/04/08
      20.   Yes, Max, I can read. Can you? 11:35  |  Joe Sittizen 28/04/08
      21.   Dear Liberals - STOP SUPPORTING INTOLERANCE!!! 11:36  |  Dr eric 28/04/08
      22.   Israelis numb to Palestinian children deaths 11:37  |  David 28/04/08
      23.   When will they learn from history? 11:40  |  PETER SM 28/04/08
      24.   very vague 11:42  |  rm 28/04/08
      25.   # 1 to denise thompson in ann arbor 11:47  |  eric 28/04/08
      26.   if this is true we are extremely sorry 11:49  |  harzion 28/04/08
      27.   palestine want peace .. 11:54  |  mohmed 28/04/08
      28.   Dr Eric-a people under occupation has a right to defend itself. 12:00  |  Duffer 28/04/08
      29.   to Israelis 12:05  |  david 28/04/08
      30.   stuff the IDF`s intention 12:08  |  Bruno 28/04/08
      31.   Nonsense, eric 12:09  |  Linichka 28/04/08
      32.   incident 12:10  |  jojo 28/04/08
      33.   # 3 to joe sittizen in jerusalem 12:19  |  eric 28/04/08
      34.   #16 David - not etirely correct 12:32  |  Gideon 28/04/08
      35.   Joe Sittizen , Two wrongs don`t make a right 12:42  |  Dutch 28/04/08
      36.   To Max - #4 12:46  |  Michael 28/04/08
      37.   apologies are not enough 12:56  |  Bruno 28/04/08
      38.   IDF SHOULD BE RULED DIRECTLY, 100 %, BY PM 13:03  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 28/04/08
      39.   What about Kassams that crash thru SDEROT house ceilings? 13:06  |  Alan 28/04/08
      40.   Hamas should consider the dead they are causing 13:06  |  KUTW 28/04/08
      41.   BUT I dont believe it was an ISRAELI shell-it was a work accident 13:07  |  Alan SA 28/04/08
      42.   # 3 Joe Sittizen 13:07  |  Nick Ferriman 28/04/08
      43.   Swiss How can we learn Swiss is morally dead 13:08  |  Aby 28/04/08
      44.   The I pod generation 13:09  |  Chris Linthwaite 28/04/08
      45.   David 16 13:10  |  ChanahS 28/04/08
      46.   # 19 Harzion 13:15  |  Nick Ferriman 28/04/08
      47.   Condemn Israel for its call to violence against Palestinians 13:18  |  Dutch 28/04/08
      48.   Sorry to disappoint, but... 13:26  |  Linichka 28/04/08
      49.   Dear Duffer - yes those human rts organization are anti Israel!!! 13:27  |  Dr Eric 28/04/08
      50.   #16 Nour - see the light 13:37  |  * BEN JABO 28/04/08
      51.   #10, Rafi. Ra`anana is a desert comparing to Gaza density. 13:38  |  zmogus 28/04/08
      52.   No, dutch: WE DON`T CONDEMN ISRAEL. We condemn you & Hamas. 13:38  |  People of the World 28/04/08
      53.   nick ferriman that you should be surprised we are sorry 13:45  |  harzion 28/04/08
      54.   ChannahS (`67 war) 13:53  |  Guido 28/04/08
      55.   Zioni Israel - Death Camp Guard 13:58  |  Jackson Wallace 28/04/08
      56.   48- Dr Eric 14:00  |  Duffer 28/04/08
      57.   IDF IS TRULY SICK. A FUTURE SERIOUS WAR CAN MAKE HER DOWN. 14:00  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 28/04/08
      58.   #52 14:02  |  Mike 28/04/08
      59.   IDF IS TOO FAR TO BE THE ARMY OF SECULAR ISRAEL 14:03  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 28/04/08
      60.   Israel must continue to destroy terrorist cells 14:04  |  Nechama 28/04/08
      61.   48-Dr Eric 14:05  |  Duffer 28/04/08
      62.   IDF MEANS MODERN MACHINES AND MODERN TACTICS BUT NO MILITARY SOUL 14:07  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 28/04/08
      63.   FAKE PETER SM @23 (3rd try) When will YOU learn from history? 14:09  |  PETER SM 28/04/08
      64.   #67 Guido - Nobody said Dayan was the smartest man 14:10  |  * BEN JABO 28/04/08
      65.   10 Shlomo from Tel Aviv,"everyone who was killed should leave for 14:10  |  lakshmi 28/04/08
      66.   with pin point accuracy the zionist tank murdered 4 babies 14:16  |  get it right 28/04/08
      67.   # 18 Swiss...as I have already told you 14:16  |  Lynn 28/04/08
      68.   equivalent ops 14:20  |  Nabulsi 28/04/08
      69.   Israeli Conscience is DEAD 14:23  |  Palestinian in UK 28/04/08