Israel Draws World Rebuke for Killing Children

Physical proof exists that the seven members of the Rhalia family who died on a Gaza beach 12 days ago were not killed by an Israeli shell.

by Hana Levi Julian, Arutrz Sheva, Israel National News

Maj.-Gen. Meir Kalifi, chief of the Israel Defense Forces inquiry commission, told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday that shrapnel taken from the body of a boy wounded in the incident did not match Israeli ammunition. The boy, 12-year-old Adham, is hospitalized in Soroka Hospital in Beersheva in serious but stable condition.

“The examination of a second piece of shrapnel retrieved from the body of a boy who was wounded in the blast unequivocally shows that the explosion was not caused by a 155-mm artillery shell,” announced Kalifi. The IDF was using 155-mm artillery shells in their bombardment of Gaza’s rocket launching sites that day.

The investigation into what did cause the explosion is continuing, according to Kalifi, and there were several explanations that are being looked into. “There is a possibility that the explosion was caused by an unexploded IDF artillery shell that landed on the beach weeks or months ago,” he said. “It is also possible that the blast was caused by an explosive device planted by a Palestinian terrorist group.”

Officials at Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv, meanwhile, released a statement on Tuesday that the body of a 21-year-old woman injured in the explosion seemed to have been tampered with. When Ayham Rhalia was brought to the hospital with multi-system failure, she was seen immediately, according to Professor Gabi Barbush, who was interviewed on IDF Radio. Barbush who is the manager of the medical center, said, “I saw her in the trauma section of the emergency room, “It was clear that she had undergone several superficial operations. It seemed strange.”

Barbush said that when doctors performed a CT scan on the young woman, “it emerged that she had almost no shrapnel inside her.” He added that there was no medical reason for PA doctors to remove shrapnel from her body. Rhalia was admitted in very serious condition, with injuries to her stomach, hands and legs, and was sedated and put on a respirator to help her breathe. She has since regained consciousness, but remains in serious condition.

Kalifi added that intelligence gathering would continue to play a major part in the investigation. “We have in our possession [intelligence] information that supports our claim that the explosion was not caused by an Israeli artillery shell,” he said.

The commander of the IDF technological division explained further. “We carried out a check of the metal and found the explosives that were on it,” said Lt. Col. Eran Toval. “In total, we carried out three independent analyses. The result was that the explosive was standard, but not characteristic of Israeli or American explosives in IDF service, and was not an IDF shell.”

In a statement, Human Rights Watch said the Israeli army (IDF) had excluded all evidence gathered by other sources. It had either called into question or declined to accept evidence collected by the group, the statement added.

"An investigation that refuses to look at contradictory evidence can hardly be considered credible," said Marc Garlasco, senior military analyst at Human Rights Watch.

"The IDF's partisan approach highlights the need for an independent, international investigation."

Group says Israel ignored beach blast evidence

By Dean YatesWed Jun 21, 11:11 AM ET

Human Rights Watch accused an Israeli army investigation on Wednesday of ignoring evidence that challenges its decision to clear the military of blame for a blast that killed seven Palestinians on a Gaza beach.

The deaths on June 9, a day of heavy Israeli shelling designed to stop militants firing rockets from Gaza, drew international condemnation and prompted the ruling Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to call off a 16-month-old truce.

Major-General Meir Califi, who led the army investigation, dismissed the accusations by the U.S.-based rights watchdog, which has carried out its own inquiry into the explosion that killed seven family members on an outing to the beach.

In a statement, Human Rights Watch said the Israeli army (IDF) had excluded all evidence gathered by other sources. It had either called into question or declined to accept evidence collected by the group, the statement added.

"An investigation that refuses to look at contradictory evidence can hardly be considered credible," said Marc Garlasco, senior military analyst at Human Rights Watch.

"The IDF's partisan approach highlights the need for an independent, international investigation."

Israel has ruled out an international probe.

The army has said shelling of the area, in response to rocket fire into the Jewish state, had ended before the beach blast. Retrieved shrapnel samples also ruled out the possibility of a direct Israeli artillery barrage, it said.

Evidence collected by Human Rights Watch researchers indicated the civilians were killed within the time period of the shelling, the statement said. That evidence included computerized and hand-written hospital records showing the time when some of the wounded were admitted.

Califi, who met Garlasco earlier this week, said the army had accounted for all shells fired during the time period.

He said nothing Garlasco presented had undermined the army's investigation.

"All his evidence is circumstantial. The evidence was either brought to him or not collected at the scene," Califi told reporters in Tel Aviv, partly referring to shrapnel from victims that Human Rights Watch had obtained.

The Human Rights Watch statement followed a report by Israeli television on Tuesday that said the delayed explosion of a dud Israeli shell might have killed the beachgoers.

The army has not ruled this out.

Hamas has blamed Israel for the explosion and violence has increased since. Three children were killed on Tuesday in an Israeli air strike against militants behind rocket fire. The militants escaped.