More Indications Misfired Islamic Jihad Rockets Killed Gazans – From Anti-Israel Sources
David Lange
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Reuters have published a report titled In Gaza, denial and doubt over misfiring rocket claims, which seems quite determined to take the palestinian Arab side:
Both Islamic Jihad and Hamas, which took no part in the weekend fighting, have developed rockets with the help of Iran but they remain relatively crude devices compared with the sophisticated weaponry used by Israel.
Although more than 1,000 were launched towards Israel, most were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system and caused no significant damage or casualties.
Nevertheless, they do report on some palestinian Arab responses that indicate there is much truth to Israel’s claims Islamic Jihad rockets were likely the cause of many Gazan deaths in this round of fighting:
Both Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and Islamic Jihad, the Iranian-backed militant group that Israel targeted with its air strikes, denied the Israeli accounts and blamed Israel for all the deaths in Gaza. But an Islamic Jihad spokesman said it was conducting an investigation.
“Israel began the military round and therefore it bears responsibility for all the results of that military round,” said spokesman Daoud Shehab.
“We are investigating all the reports and all the cases that are being cited by media outlets,” he said. He added that some claims had already been proved incorrect but gave no details.
“These are wrong and false allegations Israel is making to escape its responsibility for the killing of civilians and children,” he said.
Reading between the lines, it seems the spokesperson is already conceding their own rockets probably caused Gazan casualties, and is preemptively blaming Israel even if that was the case. Why else would he be painting Israel as responsible for all casualties for the sole reason we “began the military round”?
There is also this important bit of information buried in the article:
Hamas briefly issued an order instructing freelance journalists not to report claims that casualties may have been caused by Palestinian rockets. It soon rescinded that order.
Meanwhile, even the anti-Israel organization the Defense for Children International Palestine concedes some of the deaths might be related to Islamic Jihad rockets:
DCIP is still investigating the source of four explosions across the Gaza Strip that killed another 13 Palestinian children. Each explosion coincided with Israeli drones flying over the areas as well as the launches of rockets from Palestinian armed groups.
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David Lange
