Does Israel really believe "mowing the grass" is the best way to deal with its neighboring population? Is that a tactic to build a strong Israel for the future?
Years from now, Israeli veterans of this and other wars, will be asked, "what did you do in your war, Daddy"? The answer Daddy gives about "mowing the grass" will tell us what sort of nation Israel has built for the future.
The children shown above were in an United Nations World Relief Agency (UNWRA) school during an attack.
Amira Hass writes further for Ha'aretz:
"The Israeli military shelled a United Nations Relief Works and Agency (UNRWA) school today, killing and injuring some of the Palestinians who had gathered there after fleeing their homes following Israeli messages to do so.
"CNN's Ben Wedeman, who is reporting from Gaza, said that medical sources told him 30 people were killed. Other reports put the death toll lower; the Associated Press reports that at least seven were killed, while Agence France Press reports nine dead.
"UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness has confirmed that there are 'multiple dead and injured at designated UNRWA shelter in Beit Hanoun.' He said on Twitter that the Israeli military had been given 'precise co-ordinates of the UNRWA shelter in Beit Hanoun.'"
The
children in the picture above are not lying on hospital beds. This is not a
hospital. It is clearly-marked UNWRA facility which hurriedly took in as many as
1,500 Palestinians, seeking shelter from bombs.
This is how the world's fourth largest military power "defends itself"?
Another way Israel defends itself is to raise questions about which side is responsible for attacks. In a factual report on the attack on the Gaza Beit Hanoun school converted to a temporary shelter, the New York Times gives the results of the attack.
"These days, even a school -- clearly identified as a shelter run by the United Nations -- cannot protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza from deadly attacks. Located in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, it was struck multiple times on Thursday as people who had taken refuge there were gathering in the courtyard and preparing to flee.
"At least 16 of them were killed, bringing the total death toll in 17 days of war to more than 750, a vast majority being Palestinian civilians."
The losses were so heavy and the ultimate responsibility for the explosion that caused the many losses, so damaging the it quite possible that the Israeli hasbara team told its favorite New York City newspaper to proceed with caution.
Which the New York Times promptly did in the next paragraph:
"There are competing charges over who carried out the attack -- Israel; Hamas, which controls Gaza; or one of Hamas's allies -- and that could take time to sort out. What really matters now is that some way be found to stop this carnage."
Time to sort out, indeed. To even imply that Hamas could be responsible for this destruction in the Beit Hanoun school strains credibility. Perhaps Israel is anticipating a need for cover in future war crimes trials.
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