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Paleos boom themselves; fortunately no baby ducks harmed
The headline from JPost is completely different, but if you read through the reports. It is Paleos claim this happened and Israelis say if was it us then it was a mistake. Highly likely its self-inflincted by the RoP. Israeli helicopters and tanks shot into a crowd of demonstrators near Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood Wednesday afternoon, killing at least 22 people, including two children, and wounding dozens of others, Palestinian medical workers said.

The death of the demonstrators brings the toll of Palestinians killed since the launching of Operation Rainbow on Tuesday to 48.

Witnesses and Palestinian security sources said tanks opened fire with shells and machineguns and a helicopter fired four missiles. Wounded were evacuated by ambulance, private cars and donkey carts to the nearby hospital.

According to IDF officials, airforce footage of the attack shows that one missile was fired into an open area not far from thousands of Palestinian demonstrators headed towards Tel Sultan. Officials noted that in the same area is a combat zone where bombs and gunfire

Officials said that in addition a tank fired one shell towards an empty building to serve as a deterrent.

Update version, from the link...
According to IDF officers, among the crowd of men, women, and children, a number of armed Palestinians were spotted. As they approached the Girit outpost, a helicopter fired one missile into an open area not far from the demonstrators as a warning for them to turn back. According to footage taken from the helicopter and drones, the missile exploded far from the demonstrators in an open area and no one was hit.

Undeterred, the protesters continued and the helicopter then fired flares into the open area ahead of them, which also failed to stop the crowd. Then soldiers directed machine-gun fire at the wall of an abandoned building as another warning.

When this failed to stop the crowd, a tank fired four shells at the same building and apparently one of the shells caused an explosion that hit demonstrators.

Yaron said the footage of the entire incident taken from the helicopter and drones is still being studied, but noted that shortly after the tank fired a number of shells there was an explosion. The road used by the protesters was strewn with bombs placed by terrorists against soldiers, she said.

"Our soldiers have not yet used the road, because it has been rigged with bombs and has not yet been cleared and made secure," she said. Asked why the tank fired four shells instead of one, Yaron said, "Deterrence fire in accordance with regulations is carried out in a series of three and one."

Posted by: Phil B 2004-05-19
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=33436