Reports: Israel Carried Out Gaza Strike That Killed 5 Minors

A Palestinian woman sits near the rubble of her destroyed house of the Shmalakh family in the south of Gaza City, 15 August 2022. (EPA)
A Palestinian woman sits near the rubble of her destroyed house of the Shmalakh family in the south of Gaza City, 15 August 2022. (EPA)
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Reports: Israel Carried Out Gaza Strike That Killed 5 Minors

A Palestinian woman sits near the rubble of her destroyed house of the Shmalakh family in the south of Gaza City, 15 August 2022. (EPA)
A Palestinian woman sits near the rubble of her destroyed house of the Shmalakh family in the south of Gaza City, 15 August 2022. (EPA)

A Palestinian human rights group and an Israeli newspaper reported Tuesday that an explosion in a cemetery that killed five Palestinian children during the latest flare-up in Gaza was caused by an Israeli airstrike and not an errant Palestinian rocket.

It was one of a number of blasts during the fighting that did not bear the tell-tale signs of an Israeli F-16 or drone strike, and which the Israeli military said might have been caused by rockets misfired by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group.

The five children, aged 4 to 16 years old, had gathered at their grandfather's grave in the local cemetery, one of the few open spaces in the crowded Jebaliya refugee camp, on Aug. 7, hours before an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire ended three days of heavy fighting.

Residents said a projectile fell from the air and exploded in the cemetery. When The Associated Press visited the following day, it saw none of the tell-tale signs of an airstrike by an Israeli F-16 or drone, adding to suspicions that the blast was caused by an errant rocket. Israel said at the time that it was investigating the incident.

On Tuesday, the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights said its investigation of shrapnel and other evidence led it to conclude that the blast was caused by an Israeli airstrike.

“This was a missile fired from an Israeli aircraft,” said Raja Sourani, the director of the group, as he displayed pictures of what he said was a fragment showing the missile's serial number.

Israel's Haaretz newspaper meanwhile cited unnamed Israeli defense officials as saying the military's investigation had concluded that the five were killed by an Israeli strike.

Asked about the Haaretz story, the military said it was still examining the event. It said that throughout the latest round of fighting, it had targeted militant infrastructure and “made every feasible effort to minimize, as much as possible, harm to civilians and civilian property.”

The latest fighting in Gaza began with a wave of Israeli airstrikes on Aug. 5 that killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander as well as several civilians. Israel said it was responding to an imminent threat days after the arrest of a senior Islamic Jihad leader in the occupied West Bank.

Over the next three days, Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes across the narrow, crowded coastal strip. Islamic Jihad fired some 1,100 rockets at Israel, around 200 of which fell short and landed inside Gaza, according to the Israeli military.

Hamas, a larger and more militarily advanced group that has ruled Gaza since 2007, sat out this round of fighting. apparently in order to maintain understandings with Israel that have led to an easing of a blockade imposed on the territory by Israel after it seized power. Israel and Hamas have fought four wars and several smaller skirmishes over the last 15 years.

A total of 49 Palestinians were killed in the latest fighting, including 17 children. Palestinian rights groups say at least 36 were killed in Israeli airstrikes, with investigations still underway into the deaths of 13 others. No Israelis were killed or seriously wounded.

The Israeli military said early estimates showed that at least 20 of those killed were militants, and that 14 people were killed by errant Islamic Jihad rocket fire. That count did not include the five killed in the Jebaliya cemetery.

The day before the blast at the cemetery, seven people were killed by an explosion on a busy street elsewhere in Jebaliya. The Israeli military blamed it on a rocket misfire by Islamic Jihad, saying the army had not carried out any strikes in the area at that time. The military later released video that appeared to show a militant rocket falling short.

Video footage of the aftermath of that blast showed what appeared to be a rocket casing sticking out of the ground. When the AP visited the site, the casing was gone and the hole had been filled in. Palestinians are usually keen to display evidence of Israeli airstrikes to international media.

Palestinians with direct knowledge of the suspicious incidents have been reluctant to speak on record. The Hamas-run Interior Ministry directed journalists not to report on rocket misfires in media guidelines that were rescinded after an outcry by foreign media outlets.

The four Gaza wars have killed more than 4,000 Palestinians, the vast majority of whom died in Israeli strikes. More than half were civilians, according to the UN Over 100 people have died on the Israeli side, including civilians, soldiers and foreign residents.



UN Monitoring Lebanon’s Efforts to Form Cabinet Headed by Nawaf Salam

File photo: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (right) joined Nawaf Salam, Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations, and others, in a tree-planting ceremony on the grounds of UN Headquarters in New York. (UN)
File photo: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (right) joined Nawaf Salam, Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations, and others, in a tree-planting ceremony on the grounds of UN Headquarters in New York. (UN)
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UN Monitoring Lebanon’s Efforts to Form Cabinet Headed by Nawaf Salam

File photo: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (right) joined Nawaf Salam, Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations, and others, in a tree-planting ceremony on the grounds of UN Headquarters in New York. (UN)
File photo: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (right) joined Nawaf Salam, Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations, and others, in a tree-planting ceremony on the grounds of UN Headquarters in New York. (UN)

UN Security Council members held Monday closed consultations on Lebanon and received an update on the implementation of the cessation of hostilities agreement between Israel and Hezbollah.

The meeting welcomed the January 9 election of former Lebanese Army Commander Joseph Aoun as President and the appointment of a new Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will travel to Lebanon on Friday for a solidarity visit with the country and its people, his spokesperson announced on Monday during his daily briefing from New York.

Monday’s closed consultations at the Security Council were proposed by France, the penholder on Lebanon.

Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix briefed the meeting on the implementation of the November 27 cessation of hostilities agreement between Israel and Lebanon ahead of the expiry of the 60-day deadline outlined in the agreement for the Israeli army to withdraw south of the Blue Line and, in parallel, for the Lebanese army to deploy to positions south of the Litani river.

The announcement of the cessation of hostilities frames the agreement as a set of “understandings” that reflect “steps to which Israel and Lebanon are committed” in order to fully implement Resolution 1701.

Adopted in 2006, Resolution 1701 called for a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah based on a series of principles, including the establishment between the Blue Line and the Litani river in Lebanon of “an area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons” other than those of the government of Lebanon and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), as well as “no foreign forces” in Lebanon without its government’s consent.

It also notes that the Lebanese army will begin carrying out several tasks, including dismantling unauthorized infrastructure and confiscating unauthorized arms and related materiel in the UNIFIL area of operations.

According to a 4 January AP article, Israel has “stopped attacking Hezbollah in most areas of Lebanon,” while launching “regular airstrikes” on what it says are Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa Valley.

In a 26 December 2024 statement, UNIFIL expressed “concern at continuing destruction by the Israeli army in residential areas, agricultural land, and road networks in south Lebanon.”

According to media reports, the US is apparently seeking an extension of the 60-day deadline stipulated in the agreement for the respective withdrawal and deployment.

In its statement, UNIFIL urged Israel and Lebanon to utilize the mechanism outlined in the cessation of hostilities agreement to address any outstanding issues.

This refers to a reformulated version of the tripartite mechanism established following the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and then turned into a five-member mechanism that includes France and the US—which chairs the mechanism—and is hosted by UNIFIL.

The revised mechanism is tasked with monitoring, verifying, and assisting in “ensuring enforcement” of the commitments outlined in the cessation of hostilities and Resolution 1701.

UNIFIL’s statement further said that the mission is working closely with the Lebanese army “as they accelerate recruitment efforts and redeploy troops to the south” and that it stands ready to support Israel and Lebanon to meet their obligations, including regarding the absence of any armed personnel, assets or weapons other than those of the government of Lebanon and UNIFIL south of the Litani river, as well as respect for the Blue Line.

During Monday’s closed-door meetings, Hennis-Plasschaert briefed the Security Council on positive developments seen in recent weeks in Lebanon, welcoming the January 9 election of the new President and the nomination of Salam to form the country’s new government.

She said the two developments offer “an opportunity to pave the way for progress towards consolidating the cessation of hostilities and preserving the country’s security and stability.”

Hennis-Plasschaert also urged the formation of a government as soon as possible to follow the caretaker cabinet headed by Najib Mikati.

Presidential Statement

At the time of the closed-door meeting, Council members were negotiating a draft presidential statement circulated by France on January 9.

The draft statement welcomes Aoun’s election and stresses the importance of the formation of a government.

Diplomats told Asharq Al-Awsat the statement also apparently welcomes the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon and calls for the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the respect of Resolutions 1701, 1559 and 1860.

The draft presidential statement was not immediately adopted amid concerns that it would risk complicating de-escalation and compliance with the agreement on the ground.