Article Author:
Associated Press
Tia Goldenberg and Joseph Klaus
Tel Aviv, Israel (AP) — One-third of Palestinians killed in recent violence between Israel and Israel The Gaza militants may have been killed by a false rocket fired by the Palestinian side, according to an Israeli military assessment that appears to be consistent with a recent independent report by the Associated Press.
The Israeli military said 47 Palestinians were killed in the fighting over the weekend. At least 14 of them had insufficient rockets fired by the Islamic jihad.
No one in Gaza with direct knowledge of the eruption in question has dared to speak publicly about it. But live television footage showed the militants' RPGs inadequate in dense residential areas. AP visited the sites of his two explosions, which killed a total of 12 people, and supported the suspicion that they were caused by a rocket that went off course.
Israel claimed victory in the weekend's clashes, partly because of the deaths of two senior Islamic Jihad commanders and the number of Israelis killed or seriously injured. It is something that has not been done. If Islamic Jihad were found to have harmed some of the people it claims to protect, it would be even more humiliating for the extremist group and its main sponsor, Iran.
In Gaza, extremist groups from the ruling Hamas party are dissenting, and many Palestinians see militant groups as freedom fighters defending their homeland in the face of Israeli aggression.
Israel said it targeted only militants and made every effort to save civilians. But at least one attack that killed a senior Islamic jihadist commander in the southern city of Rafah late Saturday left five civilians as Israel flattened one house and heavily damaged others. also died.
The riots began on Friday when Israel launched a series of airstrikes against Islamic Jihad, which the military described as an imminent threat to Israelis living near the Gaza frontier. Islamic Jihad had fired hundreds of rockets into Israel and Israeli aircraft hit dozens of suspected militant targets before the ceasefire took effect late Sunday.
The Israeli military said the militants had fired about 1,100 rockets, with about 200 landing within Palestinian enclaves.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said his 46 Palestinians, including 16 children and her four women, had died in three days of fighting. It does not distinguish between civilians and extremists.
Islamic Jihad said 12 fighters had been killed, a smaller armed group said it had lost one fighter, and Hamas said 2 Hamas-affiliated police officers not taking part in the fighting. said a person died. Israel said he killed at least 20 militants and his seven civilians.
Neither Hamas nor Islamic Jihad responded to Israel's claims that civilians had been killed by rocket detonations. Instead, they held Israel responsible for all the deaths.
Gaza-based human rights groups investigating the strike also refused to address the allegations. But their initial findings indicate that at least some of the explosions were suspicious.
Human rights groups in Almesan said some civilians were killed by "projectiles" rather than by Israeli airstrikes. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said it had confirmed 27 deaths in Israeli attacks so far, far below the total number of casualties.
Director of PCHR Raji Sourani said the group has only issued statements on unambiguous cases and said it would take more time to investigate other cases because of "conflicting claims". He didn't elaborate.
"We need witnesses, debris, video, evidence," he said. "An investigation is required."
Suspicions center on his three explosions that killed at least 15 civilians.
Seven Palestinians were killed Saturday night in an explosion at the crowded Jebariyah refugee camp in northern Gaza. The Israeli military said it was not conducting operations in the area at the time. It released video footage that allegedly showed a barrage of militant rockets, but one was missing.
At the same time, it announced a rocket attack on the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, just north of Jebaliyah.
Video footage of the aftermath has circulated online showing what appears to be a rocket casing sticking out of the ground in a narrow, busy street. When AP visited the site on Monday, the casing was gone and the hole was filled with dirt. Palestinians are usually keen to show evidence of Israeli airstrikes to the international media.
Al-Mezan said he believed the explosion was caused by a "projectile" and that the PCHR was still investigating.
Five Palestinians, ranging from his 4-year-old to her 17-year-old, died in an explosion at Jebaliya's cemetery on Sunday night. This was also around the same time that Islamic Jihad announced the barrage of rockets. The Israeli military said it was investigating.
He AP, who visited both sites in Jebaliyah, saw no clear signs of Israeli airstrikes. Wide craters left by F-16s and narrow holes left by drone strikes.
One of his off-duty Hamas-linked police officers in the third suspicious explosion was seen with her three young children at Bleij refugee camp in central Gaza on Sunday. Died. Hamas, a much more powerful militant group that has fought four wars with Israel, has stayed away from recent fighting, and Israel appears to have been careful not to target it.
Al-Mezan and his PCHR said the episode was still under investigation.
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Klaus reported from Ottawa, Ontario. Associated Press writer Ilan Ben Zion from Jerusalem contributed to this report.
