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The Gaza beach blast was an event on June 9, 2006 in which eight Palestinians were killed — including the entire family of seven year old Huda Ghaliya — and at least thirty others injured in an explosion at a beach near the municipality of Beit Lahia in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army, which frequently targets sites it says are used by Palestinian militants to fire rockets into the Western Negev, was shelling the beach 250 metres away ten minutes prior to the blast, and it was initially reported that the blast was caused by an Israeli artillery shell. This conclusion has been called into question by independent investigations, of the german newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung report has expressed doubts about the authenticity of Palestinian video footage broadcast at the time . as well as by Israeli military invetigation.

Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority, called the killings a "bloody massacre" and demanded international intervention. The Defense Minister of Israel, Amir Peretz, sent the Palestinian leader a letter of condolence. Helen Margret(Denmark) the current president of the UN Security Council have refised to convine the security council to a hearing about the incident if the hearing is not taking into account the Kasam rockets shot on Israel, she specifically said :"This is not occur in a void, someone is instigating terror and Israel have to respond"

Conflicting investigations

Although early reports from Israeli sources stated that victims who arrived at Israeli hospitals were "cleansed" of any shrapnel prior to their departure from the Gaza Strip, an IDF investigation into the deaths concluded, on 13 June 2006, that one piece of shrapnel removed from a Palestinian victim did not match the metal signature of Israeli munitions, and that IDF shells or missiles would have left larger craters than found on the site of the incident. The report suggested the blast was probably caused by an explosive device buried in the sand, but did not determine whether it was planted by Palestinians (as the IDF committee head speculated but could not confirm) or was an old IDF explosive.

The IDF explained that six shells from a canon were fired in the vicinity. The landing spots of the first five were identified as being 250 meters away from the incident, but that of the sixth was not determined. The army is nevertheless convinced that the sixth shell, which was shot a full eight minutes prior to the fatal blast, could not have fallen on the beach almost half a kilometer away from its intended target.

Mark Garlasco, the senior military analyst and battle damage assessment expert at Human Rights Watch, said that the nature of the injuries was "not consistent" with the Israeli explanation of an explosion originating from a buried object. He told the BBC:

It has been suggested by some that the family was killed by a land mine, and this is patently not the case. All of the evidence is pointing to a 155mm shell as having killed and injured the Palestinians here on the beach. My assessment that it's likely that this was incoming artillery fire that landed on the beach and was fired by the Israelis from the north of Gaza.

A spokesperson for the Palestinian Interior Ministry described the Israeli report as "a lie and an attempt to escape moral responsibility for the massacre of a completely innocent family."

Colonel Saleh Abu Alozom of the Palestinian bomb squad claims to have recovered from the beach multiple fragments from the copper shell casing of an IDF 155mm artilery shell of the type fired towards the area on the day in question. Mark Garlasco also claims to have Israeli-stamped shrapnel from the scene.

Israeli apology withdrawn

Following the conclusion of the Israeli investigation, defense minister Peretz withdrew his previous apology saying, "We showed the necessary restraint in light ... of the international uproar that resulted, but it's over." In addition, the IDF have rescinded their temporary halt of shelling and airstrikes in the Gaza strip. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed condolences for the deaths, but did not accept responsibilty for the casualties. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni agreed and suggested that "There is a situation in which maybe ... this was an explosive that was put on the beach for future attacks on Israel." Major General Dan Halutz, IDF Chief of Staff and former Israeli Air Force Commander was reported as saying "We can say, surely, that the IDF is not responsible for the incident," and that, "We checked each and every shell that was fired from the sea, the air and from the artillery on the land and we found out that we can track each and every one according to a timetable and according to the accuracy of where they hit the ground."

References

1. Originally the event was known as the Gaza beach massacre, but this title was subsequently overtaken by the current name.
2. Hamas militants vow to end truce, BBC Online, 10 June, 2006
3. Israel steps up attacks on Gaza military bases, The Independent, 11 June, 2006
4. Israeli air strike kills two Hamas men, Al Jazeera, 11 June, 2006
5. Palestinians killed on Gaza beach, BBC, June 9 2006
6. Eyewitness: Gaza Beach Shelling, BBC, 9 June, 2006
7. Der Krieg der Bilder, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 16 June, 2006
8. Death on the beach: seven Palestinians killed as Israeli shells hit family picnic, The Guardian, 10 June, 2006
9. Abu Mazen convoca un referéndum sobre la creación de un Estado Palestino mientras su pueblo clama venganza contra Israel, Diario ABC, 10 June, 2006 (in Spanish)
10. Gaza beach blast: Possible scenarios, 11 June, 2006
11. Peretz: Friday's Gaza beach shelling 'not our doing' , Jerusalem Post, June 13, 2006
12. ^ IDF probe: Gaza beach blast not caused by wayward army shell, Ha'aretz, June 13, 2006
13. Bio of Human Rights Watch's Mark Garlasco, Mother Jones Radio, October 2, 2005
14. Israel: Investigate Gaza Beach Killings, Human Rights Watch, 13 June 2006
15. Beach deaths 'not Israel's fault' , BBC, June 13, 2006
16. Martin Chulov, Shrapnel "proves shell was Israeli", The Australian, 16 June, 2006
17. Hamas "mined Gaza beach", The Australian, 14 June, 2006
18. Israel set to deny role in Gaza beach killings", Reuters, 13 June, 2006
19. "IDF probe: Gaza beach blast not caused by wayward Army shell", Haaretz, 14 June, 2006

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