U.N. School A Valid Target

Israeli forces attacked a Hamas mortar firing position on 06 January 2009. Unfortunately, the Hamas terrorists were firing from a position on or near the grounds of a U.N. school, so the Al Fakhoura School was hit by the Israeli mortar strike. While a school would not normally be a target, protected areas lose their protected status when enemy forces attempt to use them as a point of cover to launch an attack from. Further, any forces who place themselves amongst civilians become responsible for any injury that befalls those civilians.

The Israeli army said the school in Jabaliya was targeted after militants launched mortar rounds from its grounds. An army statement said Hamas "terror operatives" Imad Abu Askhar and Hassan Abu Askhar were among the dead.

Two residents of the area who spoke by telephone said they saw a small group of militants firing mortar rounds from a street near the school, the Associated Press reported. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, the AP said. The residents said the two brothers were known to be low-level Hamas militants. They said a group of militants - one of them said four - were firing mortar shells from near the school.

"We face a very delicate situation where Hamas is using the citizens of Gaza as a protective vest," said Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Brigadier General Avi Benayahu.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum denied his organization was staging attacks from the school and accused Israel of carrying out "an open war on innocent civilians."

Two terrorists were found amongst the civilians that Hamas was using as human shields. Hamas, having taken a fighting position amongst the civilians, is fully responsible for their deaths. As such, it is actually the terrorists who are waging "an open war on innocent civilians."

Buried deeper in the story is a short, single paragraph about a Hamas rocket that struck a residential area of Gedera, Israel.

The Israeli offensive has failed to stop the rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. And yesterday, a rocket exploded in the town of Gedera, about 25 miles northeast of Gaza and the closest the group has come to Tel Aviv. The strike, which injured a baby, was the farthest north yet by a Hamas rocket. That distance means that 1 million Israelis are within range of rockets fired from Gaza, said Mickey Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman.

It is interesting that none of the intrepid reporters bothered to ask Fawzi Barhoum exactly what legitimate target that rocket was fired at. My guess is that the media avoids those tough questions so that they don't need to lie for the terrorists, because the fact of the matter is that Hamas isn't firing at any legitimate targets whatsoever. Hamas is simply lobbing rockets into Israel in the hopes of causing civilian casualties and terror; you know, sort of like Fawzi Barhoum said earlier, they are carrying out "an open war on innocent civilians."

Go get 'em, Israel!

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