Israel/Palestine
Related: About this forumExclusive: Hamas rocket launch pad revealed near Gaza homes
FRANCE 24 has exclusive footage of a Hamas rocket launching pad that appears to prove the militant group has been firing from areas heavily populated with civilians.
Correspondent Gallagher Fenwick says the site, in Gaza City, is some 50 metres from a hotel where the majority of international media is staying, and just 100 metres from a UN building.
"This type of setup is at the heart of the debate," says Gallagher. "The Israeli army has repeatedly accused the Palestinian militants of shooting from within densely populated civilian areas and that is precisely the type of setup we have here.
http://www.france24.com/en/20140805-exclusive-video-hamas-rocket-launching-pad-near-gaza-homes-un-building/
Response to King_David (Original post)
intaglio This message was self-deleted by its author.
intaglio
(8,170 posts)See this DU thread Hamas fires rocket at Israel from populated residential area
No-one says Hamas is blameless, but what is the point of Israel attacking unoccupied land with used disposable rocket launchers wherever that land might be?
shaayecanaan
(6,068 posts)in the case of the NDTV launcher, the rocket team departed the scene about a day before the rocket was launched.
Most of the time, these rocket teams operate under the "shoot and scoot" principle, by the time the rocket is in the air, they're long gone.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)King_David
(14,851 posts)But there's no denying what Hamas does and that's what has been happening , so now there's a new tune about "justifying" well that's a different story.
frylock
(34,825 posts)shaayecanaan
(6,068 posts)Both the Indian video and this French one were of rockets being fired in the vicinity of where the international media was staying. In both instances the Israeli Army did not shell the areas concerned.
It does seem quite conclusive that Hamas were exploiting the presence of the media in this instance. In other instances, I'm not sure that the presence of Arab civilians serves as a "shield" since Israel has no particular compunctions about killing Arab civilians. They certainly seem to take greater care around the media though.