As Israel-haters continue to deny a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket was responsible for the deaths of multiple Gazans during the last round of fighting, Al Monitor has interviewed Gazans about it.
Not only have the interviewed Gazans lamented this particular palestinian rocket misfire, but they have admitted that many such rockets have been responsible for killing Gazans during each of the wars.
A resident of a nearby street told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “On Saturday, the second day of the military operation, at 9 p.m., we were startled by the sound of a huge explosion hitting the next street. My brothers and I rushed to see what happened. I saw people trying to extinguish a fire with water as they waited for the civil defense and ambulance cars to arrive. I saw a 12-meter-long missile that exploded horizontally. I thanked God that it did not explode vertically. Otherwise, a very big massacre would have ensued.”
He lamented, “Everyone knows that the missile that fell on Saturday was a local missile, but no one dares talk about it, especially to the media and the press, let alone name names. Here, there is no freedom of opinion and expression. There is no respect for others’ points of view, and whoever holds the PIJ responsible for the missiles that veered off course is deemed unpatriotic and a partner in Israeli crimes against us. Whoever they are, they would be arrested by the authorities and investigated. This is why no one would dare talk about this.”
On the third day, Sunday, missiles struck a cemetery and killed five children there, sparked debate over their origin. Israel reported that the missiles were its own.
The man went on, “We are well aware of our struggle with Israel, and we are all for the Palestinian resistance, but we must stand up to this crime and demand an investigation, as this is not the first time that the rockets have fallen on civilians. During the four previous wars, a lot of rockets fell on fields and rooftops, even on people, killing them or seriously injuring them. In 2008, I lost my best friend in one of the explosions caused by resistance rockets, and in 2014 one of them fell on my aunt’s house and left her child totally disabled. But what is new this time around is that the PIJ movement alone responded without Hamas, and our society is very partisan, so many rushed to blame the PIJ.”
A journalist from the Gaza Strip told Al-Monitor, “I covered all the wars in the Gaza Strip, took a lot of photos and videos, and in every war I saw a number of local rockets falling on civilians. In the massacre in the Jabalia camp, I saw with my own eyes a local missile strike. We only want the truth and a clear investigation into the matter. They want us not to talk about this matter, because if we talk, they describe us as collaborators with the occupation. We condemn the occupation and its crimes against our people, but what is happening is a grave crime against civilians and children.”
The Israeli army shared photos and videos in which activists from Gaza documented the PIJ’s rocket launches. Israeli radar also showed some rockets veering off course and landing inside Gaza with three landing in the Jabalia camp, in Beit Hanoun and in the Bureij refugee camp. However, PIJ and Hamas both held Israel fully responsible for the incident, asking journalists in the Gaza Strip not to circulate allegations about Palestinian missiles killing Palestinians.
Will the mainstream media cover this? I highly doubt it.
