oops... they did it again?? (updated)

In the wake of the horrible event that tore a family apart this weekend, figures were all pointed at the evil Israel for it's horrible crimes and terrible things it does to the poor Palestinians. Just to be clear, I thin k that what happened is horrible, I think that the loss of innocent lives, of people who were doing nothing but having a fun day at the beach is... well there are no real words. And of course it seemed it must have been Israel that did it, even before any of the facts were checked. In fact the first reports talked about Ships off the coast that fired, only to find out later that no ships fired anything that entire day. So of course the next course of blame had to be the Artillery shells, "gone astray" - Not that I am sure how such a thing happens, but that didn't stop the media from Reporting it in full blast.

It now turns out that the there is a timing issue with the artillery shell. According to reports from Channel 2 news, the last shell (the one that was thought to have made a wrong turn) was fired at 4:31 P.m. while the blast was only heard at 5:00. I can tell you for a fact it doesn't take a half an hour for an artillery shell to land. The other interesting point of the day was another report that Hamas was removing booby traps from the beach a day after this incident happened. This is not to say that Israel is not behind the bombing. it might very well turn out WHEN the investigation is OVER, that it was that 6th shell that killed these people. But all this didn't stop the Media or the Hamas from determining who is at fault before the investigation has started.

The bigger issue is that at this point the investigation is meaningless. Now that Hamas and the world Media have decided it's all Israel's fault, there really isn't much use in finding the truth. After all the truth might not work well with what the press wrote and that would make them look stupid (again), and we can't allow that.

Then again this isn't the first time these things have happened:
After the Pullout from Gaza there was a very similar incident, where 15 palestinians were killed by faulty Kassams falling off a truck in a Rally held by Hamas. It didn't take long for either Hamas or the Media to accuse Israel of killing all those "innocent" people who were taking part in the "peaceful" rally.

However, Hamas said the rockets were dummies and did not contain explosives. The group alleged that an Israeli airstrike was responsible and said that it would retaliate. "We cannot remain silent when the blood of our martyrs is spilled," said Nizar Rayan, a Hamas leader. "Our response will be in action, not words."

What supprises me is not that Hamas is killing it's own people, and then blaming Israel for it. They needed an excuse to end the ceasefire and to take attention away from the Abu-Ma'zen Referendum threat looming over their head - so any excuse would do. But one would hope that the Media would learn from it's own mistakes and actually do some sort of journalistic work before making accusations it will later have to either apologize for make up some bigger story to get out of admitting it was wrong.

But then again - the Blame Israel Mantra is so much easier than actually reporting facts. And the world loves to read it, so I guess it's ok as long as it's in the name of some good rating!

Cross posting: The Daily TidBit

Update: A report has been published in Jpost an hour ago that Chances slim that IDF shell killed Gazans on beach

The IDF probe investigating the deaths of seven Palestinian civilians from an explosion on a beach in Gaza on Friday evening concluded that chances were slim that the accident was caused by IDF shelling.

According to Channel 2, the findings, expected to be formally released on Tuesday, showed an inconsistency between the shrapnel found in the body of one of the wounded babies and the metal used in IDF artillery.

Moreover, the investigation noted the absence of a crater at the site of the explosion, as would be expected if an IDF shell had landed there.

The third observation casting doubt on the possibility of IDF shelling was the gap between the time when the army shot the artillery and when the commotion on the beach began. According to the probe's findings, several minutes past after the shelling, before the Palestinians on the beach reacted.

The leading theory currently entertained, suggested that an explosive charge, buried by Palestinians on the Gaza beach to prevent Israeli infiltration, was behind the explosion.

Throughout the whole investigation, army officials complained at the lack of Palestinian cooperation. Unconfirmed reports further suggested attempts by Palestinians to remove shrapnel from the bodies of the wounded, treated in Israeli hospitals, thus impeding the investigation.