Israel Matzav

IDF: Palestinians may have caused beach blast

The Jerusalem Post is reporting this evening that an explosion on a Gaza beach that killed seven people yesterday afternoon may have been caused by the 'Palestinians' themselves and not by the IDF.The deadly incident occurred on Friday evening on a crowded Gaza beach in between Sudaniya and Beit Lahiya, causing the death of seven civilians, including a 4-year-old girl, a year-old baby, and a 5-month-old infant. Six of the dead belonged to the Ghalia family from Gaza. 30-40 Palestinians were wounded in the blast. Referring to the missile strike on a terror cell in the northern Gaza Strip earlier Friday only moments after the cell succeeded in firing a Kassam at Israel, the officer admitted that the success of the targeted killing was rare. The IDF has, the officer explained, developed a new concept that enables commanders to integrate and combine real-time intelligence, artillery fire, air fire and Navy fire, all at once against Kassam rocket launch cells.

The Post reports that the IDF concluded on Saturday that the explosion was caused either by an accidental IDF shelling or by an internal Palestinian incident. Commander of Gaza Division Brig.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi said that there was mounting evidence that the explosion was caused by the 'Palestinians.' Kochavi did not say how the explosion was caused.

The first phase of the IDF investigation has concluded that neither the IAF nor the Navy were involved.

Kochavi revealed that the IDF had fired at empty fields that were frequently used by terror operatives to launch Kassam rockets at Israel. He said that those sites were common targets of IDF shelling and were known as dangerous places that should be avoided.

Channel 2 reported that the IDF fired five shells into the Gaza Strip, the landing places of only four of them could be confirmed.

The IDF said that it regretted the harm done to innocent civilians and offered the Palestinians any assistance needed, including evacuation to Israeli hospitals. Two of the wounded were in fact hospitalized in an Israeli hospital.

The Post continues:

The deadly incident occurred on Friday evening on a crowded Gaza beach in between Sudaniya and Beit Lahiya, causing the death of seven civilians, including a 4-year-old girl, a year-old baby, and a 5-month-old infant. Six of the dead belonged to the Ghalia family from Gaza. 30-40 Palestinians were wounded in the blast.

Minutes after the shell exploded, an IAF missile scored a direct hit on a car in Beit Lahiya, killing two Hamas operatives responsible for recent missile attacks on Sderot.

...

[Now here's an interesting bit of information. CiJ] Referring to the missile strike on a terror cell in the northern Gaza Strip earlier Friday only moments after the cell succeeded in firing a Kassam at Israel, the officer admitted that the success of the targeted killing was rare. The IDF has, the officer explained, developed a new concept that enables commanders to integrate and combine real-time intelligence, artillery fire, air fire and Navy fire, all at once against Kassam rocket launch cells.

"We are not talking about new technology necessarily but about the combination and more effective integration of the different warfare elements in the field and available for use," he explained.

In an earlier air strike, the army said it attacked a separate group of men attempting to fire rockets in northern Gaza. One member of the PRC was lightly wounded, Palestinian officials said.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:37 PM