NY TIMES: Israel bombs building where it urged Palestinians to take shelter

[yurbud]

On Monday night, a strike hit an eight-story apartment building in downtown Gaza City — an area where Israeli officials had urged Gazans to take shelter. The building collapsed as rescue crews were inside, killing more people. The death toll, at least 13, was still being tallied.

Speaking in general, a senior Israeli military official said in a recent interview that not all civilian casualties come from strikes going astray; some take place when civilians are in places the military aims to hit.

“Not all the casualties are due to mistakes,” he said. “If Hamas are holding people inside the apartments while shooting from there, that’s one of the tragedies they are making.”

That did not appear to be the situation at the Abu Jameh home, where, survivors said, the family was gathered to break its daily Ramadan fast, a ceremonial meal, a time when Israeli military officials would have known that people were likely to be home.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/22/world/middleeast/questions-about-tactics-and-targets-as-civilian-toll-climbs-in-israeli-strikes.html?_r=0

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. That "senior Israeli military official" is a war criminal.

He opens his mouth to speak, and corpses fall out.

[HooptieWagon]

3. Yes, war crimes.

[samsingh]

2. that's horrible

[enough]

4. Thank you for giving the proper headline to this story. The actual story in the times buries

that salient fact quite far down, and the headline refers only to "Questions about tactics and targets."

[yurbud]

5. somebody on Reddit bird-dogged it.

[yurbud]

7. it's plausible deniability censorship

"We didn't censor anything--the damning information is still there."

But instead, they just give it an ambiguous, dull title, and bury the most provocative part, which is theoretically the opposite of what newspapers are supposed to do.

[G_j]

9. another example,

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025275136

[conservaphobe]

6. Troubling, if true.

Israel has a right to defend itself...

But there are lines that should never be crossed.

And Netanyahu crosses them often.

[yurbud]

13. with a lot of Americans, I think he gets a pass because he speaks good English

He sounds and looks like "one of us," so we don't judge him as harshly even though Palestinians are mostly about as much like us as average Israelis.

[n2doc]

8. I don't know if this is the same building

Another similar story in the LA Times

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025279721

[AgingAmerican]

10. The Nazis did that to the Russians in Stalingrad

They would drop leaflets on Stalingrad telling women and children to gather at the train station to be evacuated safely at a certain time. When the time came, they bombed the crap out of them.

[kelliekat44]

11. Basically, by historical standards the top Israeli government official and IDF are war criminals. n

[malaise]

17. The UN Human Rights Commissioner said so today

There is no way around this

[kelliekat44]

20. Oh yes there is a way around this. It's called the RW-GOP in our Congress. AIPAC owns them.

And Israel has spoofed the RW evangelicals with Bible lore.

[bigtree]

12. what kind of goddamn

. . . reminds me of Lebanon.

[Chasstev365]

14. Remember Folks.....

"They hate us for are Freedoms" (Not for our blind support of an immoral, ultra-right wing Israeli government)

[blackspade]

15. IDF leaders = war criminals

Disgusting.

[libodem]

16. I worry the willful disregard for human life

Will backfire on Zion. I fervently send out a white light of protection on all the European Innocents that may eventually bear the brunt of retaliation. I hate this eye for an eye barbaric behavior.

Mentally I place little iron domes over all the family stores and shops that assholes, in Europe, are attacking. They need to stop that, NOW.

[uponit7771]

18. There should be an investigation on this one alone, urging people to take shelter in location and...

...then bombing the location is a war crime.

[countryjake]

19. Questions about tactics?

This is no tactic, it's indiscriminate slaughter.