Israeli naval shelling kills 7 beach picnicers

[Arlos]

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- An Israeli navy gunboat fired shells onto a northern Gaza beach Friday, killing at least seven people and prompting the military wing of Hamas to call off a 16-month-old cease-fire with Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces said it was firing on rocket-launching areas in Gaza after a militant attack earlier in the day. The target areas were believed to be uninhabited, a representative said.

A spokesman for Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, said it was "impossible to remain silent" after viewing "terrifying pictures of the women and children" on the beach.

"These demonstrations emphasize the necessity of the renewal of the struggle," he said. (Watch the aftermath on the beach -- :46)

A mass demonstration erupted in Gaza City, and protesters Friday evening were demanding revenge for recent attacks that include the beach shelling and Thursday's killing of a Hamas official in an Israeli missile strike.

Palestinians were picnicking when the Israeli shells slammed into the beach, Palestinian medical sources said. About 20 people were injured in the attack, Palestinian security sources said.

An apology was initially issued to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in which the IDF said it "regretted the strike on innocents," but Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, the IDF's chief of general staff, later said the military is investigating the possibility that it was not naval artillery that struck the beach.

The IDF halted firing pending an investigation.

Haaretz quoted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as condemning the killings as a "bloody massacre."

Video footage from the beach showed ambulance workers carrying away injured people on stretchers and a young girl screaming for a parent.

Hamas has stuck to the cease-fire it announced in February 2005, but other groups did not sign on and have continued attacks against Israel. Earlier this year, Hamas won the Palestinian elections.

Hamas and its military wing Izzedine al Qassam has admitted responsibility for terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians as well as attacks against the Israeli military. Israel and the U.S. State Department consider Hamas a terrorist organization, though it also operates an extensive social services network in the territories.

Five militants also died earlier Friday in two Israeli strikes in Gaza, Palestinian sources said.

The beach is in the Palestinian village of Beit Lahya. The IDF said militants launched a Qassam rocket from the village that landed in Israel but caused no damage or casualties.

The militants got into a car, which the Israeli air force then attacked, according to the IDF. A large explosion followed, killing three people. The IDF said the blast was likely due to explosives in the car.

The three dead were members of the Popular Resistance Committees, a coalition of militant groups, Palestinian security sources said. Palestinian sources said the dead included two brothers and a cousin.

After the attack in Beit Lahya, a car was hit at Jabalya refuge camp, killing two militants, Palestinian sources said.

Last summer, under then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Israel withdrew from Gaza, and Israeli forces forcibly removed about 8,000 settlers from Gaza and four small areas of the West Bank.

Uh oh....

-Arlos

[Captain Insano]

Thats sweet.

[Ganzo]

I'll cry for the picnicers, as soon as missles from their villages stop flying into Israel during "cease fire"

[Arlos]

The problem is, Ganzo, it's obvious none of the people on that beach were doign anythign related to firing rockets anywhere. They were swimming and having a picnic, and those shells killed kids. Deliberately targeting innocent children who are obviously not doing anything inimical completely destroys the ability to maintain the moral high ground.

2 wrongs don't make a right, after all.

-Arlos

[Ganzo]

There is no right or moral high ground in war.

[Captain Insano]

The problem is, Ganzo, it's obvious none of the people on that beach were doign anythign related to firing rockets anywhere. They were swimming and having a picnic, and those shells killed kids. Deliberately targeting innocent children who are obviously not doing anything inimical completely destroys the ability to maintain the moral high ground.

2 wrongs don't make a right, after all.

-Arlos

we've been over this... If someone stabs you in the eye, you call tony and guido, stab them in both eyes and bust their kneecaps with a louisville slugger.

No one who is blind and in a wheelchair is going to be stabbing shit.

[Narrock]

There is no right or moral high ground in war.

How would you put an end to the violence in the Gaza strip, and to improve relations between Israel and Palestine?

[Arlos]

Honestly, I don't know, if I had all the answers for that, I'd be making a fuckload more money than I am now. I just know that blowing up innocent children who are playing on a beach is not a good way to go about creating goodwill.

-Arlos

[Narrock]

Neither is innocent brainwashed children who blow other people up in cafes and busses.

[Arlos]

I'm not arguing that. You've never once seen me defend terrorist actions against civilians. I may have said I UNDERSTAND the reasons for them, but that's very different than supporting such actions. If they purely restricted their attacks to Israeli military targets, then support/opposition would be much murkier. As you can see, Ganzo calls it a war, and in a war, if they're attacking military targets, even with unconventional means... Well, that'd be a lot less objectionable, if that makes any sense.

In any case, as I said to Ganzo, 2 wrongs do NOT make a right. Shelling a group of absolutely innocent civilians, including women and children who were just playing, swimming, and having a picnic on a beach can in no way help their aims. Hell, purely on a practical level, doing it has screwed them, look at the response to it.

Maybe if Israel arrests the people responsible, tries them, and tosses them into jail for the next 100 years under war crimes statues, that would fix the issue, as it would show that the government does not condone such things. If Israel does nothing, however, the situation there is going to deteriorate, and rapidly.

-Arlos

[Narrock]

I'm not arguing that. You've never once seen me defend terrorist actions against civilians. I may have said I UNDERSTAND the reasons for them, but that's very different than supporting such actions. If they purely restricted their attacks to Israeli military targets, then support/opposition would be much murkier. As you can see, Ganzo calls it a war, and in a war, if they're attacking military targets, even with unconventional means... Well, that'd be a lot less objectionable, if that makes any sense.

In any case, as I said to Ganzo, 2 wrongs do NOT make a right. Shelling a group of absolutely innocent civilians, including women and children who were just playing, swimming, and having a picnic on a beach can in no way help their aims. Hell, purely on a practical level, doing it has screwed them, look at the response to it.

Maybe if Israel arrests the people responsible, tries them, and tosses them into jail for the next 100 years under war crimes statues, that would fix the issue, as it would show that the government does not condone such things. If Israel does nothing, however, the situation there is going to deteriorate, and rapidly.

-Arlos

Arlos, the situation over there has been "deteriorating" for years and years. I'm taking the stance that Palestine is one of the biggest problems in the middle east. Yes, Israel and Palestine both commit atrocities to one another in retaliation, but it is a vicious circle. People over there are so deeply ingrained in thinking they are right, that nothing is going to change unless drastic measures are taken.

[KaiineTN]

Neither is innocent brainwashed children who blow other people up in cafes and busses.

Brainwashed? According to their religious beliefs, martyrdom not only grants them a place in Heaven, but they also are able to bring friends and family along with them. There's a sense of pride for the family and friends of suicide bombers, not just the grief of losing someone close. They are no more "brainwashed" into doing it than you are when it comes to your religious beliefs. Even educated middle class Muslims will do and have done it. It's not just for the poor people who feel they have nothing left in life, it's not like that at all.

[Arlos]

Honestly, Israel and Palestine lost their best hope for peace between each other when Rabin was assassinated. He had the respect of both sides, and had the personal and political clout to railroad potentially short-term unpopular measures through and get them to stick. The leaders that followed him were not up to his standard, and all the potential that existed has largely been squandered.

You are right about it being a vicious circle, but just because it is a vicious circle is no reason to keep perpetuating it. There had actually been some good news from there recently; look at the showdown Abbas was taking with Hamas, where he was effectively going to force them to finally agree to the "Israel has a right to exist" tenet. His referendum to that effect even held broad popular support among average Palestinians, to the effect of 60+% of the population, according to polls.

You think it still would, or that Abbas still has the political ground on which to call that referendum, after this happened? That's just one reason why I say that, regardless of ANY other consideration, on a PRACTICAL RESULT level, doing this was absolutely fucking retarded. How much world support do you think Israel just lost by that one act? How many negative local repercussions are there going to be as a result? What possible gain was there to deliberately blowing up innocent children and other people who weren't engaged in any sort of terrorist activity whatsoever?

-Arlos

[Captain Insano]

One side is going to have to annihilate the other. That is the only way they will have *peace* over there, but I hardly call life of a muslim peaceful.