Gewonden door Palestijnse raket op winkelcentrum Ashkelon

Vraag: waarom zagen we op TV geen beelden van de Israëlische baby die door de raket is gewond? Na Israëlische aanvallen in Gaza gaan beelden die niets aan de verbeelding overlaten, gepaard met wanhopig schreeuwende moeders, de wereld rond.

 

Antwoord: deze beelden worden niet uitgezonden, want uit respect voor de slachtoffers en nabestaanden is het verboden om ze herkenbaar in beeld te brengen.

 

Vraag 2: waarom vuurt Islamitische Jihad juist de afgelopen dagen zoveel raketten af, terwijl men al heeft ingestemd met een staakt-het-vuren?

 

Antwoord: tijdens de festiviteiten vanwege 60 jaar Israël en het bezoek van Bush aan Israël, staat Israël onder zware druk om geen vergeldingsacties uit te voeren. Verder is het natuurlijk een mooi geschenk voor het jubileum, en maakt het nog eens duidelijk wat een deel van de Palestijnen voor heeft met Israël en de Joden.

 

 

Ratna
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Last update - 20:22 14/05/2008

Gaza rocket hits Ashkelon mall; several people hurt

 

By The Associated Press
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/983435.html

 

A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, apparently a Katyusha-type rocket, exploded in a shopping center in the southern city of Ashkelon on Wednesday, wounding at least ten people.

According to preliminary reports, three of the injured were in serious condition, two were in moderate condition and at least eleven suffered minor wounds.

A woman and her young daughter were seriously wounded, along with another child, said Leah Malul of Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. The eight-year-old girl and the woman, both suffering from severe head trauma, were transferred to a hospital in central Israel for further treatment due to the seriousness of their condition.


Witnesses told Israeli radio stations that the rocket caused considerable damage. Rescue service director Eli Bean said at least two people were trapped under the rubble.

The rocket hit the third floor of the Hutzot mall. A clinic which takes up part of the floor took the brunt of the hit. A hospital official said two children were brought to the emergency room.

The Hutzot shopping center is frequented by an average of 10,000 people daily.

Ashkelon residents at the scene reported that there had been no warning siren to alert the shoppers of the incoming rocket. Military sources said that the siren system meant to alert residents of incoming strikes had been turned off in recent days after an unusually high number of false alarms that caused unnecessary panic among the residents of the town. The sources said that the decision to turn off the sirens was made in coordination with security and government bodies.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command said its fighters launched the rocket, one of an almost daily pattern of militant attacks from the Palestinian enclave.

The homemade rockets militants usually fire at Israel do not have enough range to reach Ashkelon. Instead, militants use Grad-type Katyusha rockets to hit the city of 100,000, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Gaza-Israel border.

The rocket attack came as U.S. President George W. Bush wrapped up talks in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Referring to the earlier attacks, Olmert blamed the militant Islamic Hamas rulers of Gaza.

Speaking before learning of the attack on Ashkelon, Olmert said that "we will not be able to tolerate continuous attacks on innocent civilians. We hope we will not have to act against Hamas in other ways with the military power that Israel hasn't yet started to use in a serious manner in order to stop it."

Casualties have mounted recently from the daily rocket attacks by Palestinian militants on Israeli communities outside Gaza. Two Israeli civilians were killed during the last week.