2006 Gaza beach explosion

Main article: 2006 Israel-Gaza conflict

The Gaza beach blast was an event on June 9, 2006 in which eight Palestinians were killed and at least thirty others injured in an explosion on a beach near the municipality of Beit Lahia in the Gaza Strip. The aftermath of the incident was captured on video and showed a distressed eleven year old girl, Huda Ghaliya, mourning the loss of family members, most of whom were killed in the incident. The footage of Ghaliya's grief, which received considerable media attention, was broadcast on news networks around the world, making her a "symbol of Palestinian suffering".

Initial reports, relying on Palestinian eyewitnesses, blamed the blast on Israeli shelling. However, the Israeli army and Israeli officials denied these allegations, suggesting instead that explosives may have been placed on the beach. A subsequent investigation by the Israeli Defence Forces concluded that Israel did not shell the beach, but that the explosion may have been the result of unexploded Israeli ordnance. Human Rights Watch and The Guardian both criticized the investigation, which the IDF, while maintaining it was not responsible for the blast, later stated was flawed in that it failed to mention two shells which the Israelis maintain could not have been responsible. The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung questioned the reliability of the video footage. Huda Ghaliya's critically-wounded sister, Ilham, said that the explosion was initiated by her father. Ilham has been cited saying that “Daddy touched something and then there was an explosion”.

Victims

Seven members of the Ghaliya family — Ali, 43; Raisa, 36; Alia, 24; Ilham, 17; Sabrin, 7; Hanadi, 2; and Haytham, 8 months — were killed by the blast. Along with 7-year old Huda, survivors included her mother, Hamdia, and an elder sister. Three of the wounded sisters and a brother received treatment in an Israeli hospital. Adham Ghaliya was injured by shrapnel and had to seek medical attention in the United States. One other Palestinian civilian was also killed.

Investigations

It was initially reported that the blast was caused by an Israeli artillery shell and the Israeli army claimed it was targeting Qassam rocket launchers, shelling the beach 250 metres away from the blast, ten minutes prior to it. An Israeli military investigation later concluded that the family was not hurt as a result of Israeli shelling.

Human Rights Watch has expressed doubts regarding the IDF investigation, saying that it was incomplete and called for an independent inquiry into the deaths. On June 16 it was reported that Marc Garlasco, a senior military analyst and battle damage assessment expert at Human Rights Watch, had examined a piece of shrapnel said to have come from the abdomen of a Palestinian boy and had concluded that the shrapnel was part of an artillery fuse.

Israel Defense Forces

An IDF investigation into the deaths concluded, on 13 June, 2006, that one piece of shrapnel removed from the body of Amneh Ghaliya 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 cannon shells were fired in the vicinity. The landing spots of last five were identified as being 250 meters away from the incident, but that of the first was not determined. The army is nevertheless convinced that the first shell, which they say was shot at least eight minutes prior to the fatal blast, could not have fallen on the beach almost half a kilometer away from its intended target.[2] 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 every one according to a timetable and according to the accuracy of where they hit the ground."

On 17 June, the The Times (of London) reported that the Israeli Army had told them its report was flawed, in that it failed to mention two gunboat shells fired at 4.24pm and 4.55pm. According to the IDF the two shells landed too far away to have been responsible. A UN radio transmission describing "casualties" in the area at 4.33pm was identified by the head of the IDF inquiry commission Major General Meir Klifi as related to "an earlier incident" near the abandoned settlement of Dugit.

Palestinian bomb squad

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 artillery shell of the type fired towards the area on the day in question.

Shrapnel removal

The victims had initially been treated by Palestinian doctors who removed almost all shrapnel from the bodies of victims before they arrived at Israeli hospitals for treatment. Representatives of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center said that Palestinian doctors at Shifa hospital in Gaza, who had treated a woman wounded during the blast, had made unnecessary cuts all over her body in an effort to remove all the surgically reachable shrapnel. The Israeli hospital said they had never before received a patient from which all possible shrapnel had been removed."

Human Rights Watch

Marc Garlasco, the senior military analyst and battle damage assessment expert at Human Rights Watch, initially said that the nature of the injuries was "not consistent" with the Israeli explanation of an explosion originating from a buried object, and claimed in his report to have found shrapnel 10–12cm in diameter scattered in an area of 90 meters around the explosion sites, some stamped with the number "55" and the word "mm". On 16 June it was reported that he had examined a piece of shrapnel from the abdomen of a Palestinian boy and had concluded that the shrapnel was part of an artillery fuse. Following a meeting with Major General Klifi on 19 June 2006 however, Garlasco praised the IDF's efforts to avoid civilian casualties and their professional investigation of the blast, saying he had "[come] to an agreement with General Klifi that the most likely cause [of the blast] was unexploded Israeli ordnance". HRW itself however, while conceding that it was possible for unexploded ordnance to have caused the deaths, cited a digitally dated and time-stamped blood test and hand-written records from the Gazan hospital that provided treatment to persist in its claim that the explosion actually took place at the time of the IDF artillery fire, and continued to call for an independent investigation.

In apparent contradiction to the earlier praise of the IDF investigation, in a later press release issued by Human Rights Watch Garlasco declared the IDF investigation not credible, citing the IDF's refusal to consider Palestinian and HRW provided evidence. Garlasco said “If the Israeli allegations of tampered evidence are to be believed, many Palestinians would have to have engaged in a massive and immediate conspiracy to falsify the data.” The press release states that it is possible for the cause of deaths to have been unexploded ordnance, but maintained that Klifi's investigation was incomplete.

Media reports

Guardian report

On 17 June The Guardian published the findings of their own investigation into the incident, casting doubt on Israeli claim that army was not to blame. The report included interviews with some of the people that were on the beach that day and concluded with the following statements from Human Rights Watch's Marc Garlasco: "The likelihood that the Ghalia family was killed by an explosive other than one of the shells fired by the Israeli army is remote," and the Israel Defense Forces' Capt Dalal: "We're not trying to cover up anything. We didn't do the investigation to exonerate ourselves. If it was our fire, we'll say it."

Süddeutsche Zeitung report

On 16 June 2006, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that the Israeli Army had assured that fragmentation found in one of the treated patients could not match any weapon used by the Israeli army. It also questioned the reliability of the video footage following the incident, alleging that one of the dead bodies next to Huda's father is later seen alive and carrying a gun. The report suggested that both the video footage and the site of the blast may have been manipulated.

Channel 10 report

On 19 June Israel's Channel 10 television's Shlomo Eldar reported that shrapnel from an Israeli shell was discovered in the body of one of the Palestinians wounded in the blast (twelve-year-old Adham Ghaliya). An IDF spokesman responded that "Unfortunately, Channel 10 persists in publicizing falsehoods despite having been given the true facts".

Ha'aretz report

On 5 January, 2009 Ha'aretz's military correspondent Amir Oren reported that when Ilham Ghalia was treated for her injuries at Israel's Ichilov hospital, she admitted that the explosion was caused by her father's manipulation of unexploded ordnance found on the beach.

Reaction

Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority, initially referred to the event as a "bloody massacre" and demanded international intervention. The Defense Minister of Israel Amir Peretz sent the Palestinian leader a letter of condolence, but Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected any calls for an international investigation into the tragedy, and Ha'aretz have reported current UNSC president Ellen Margrethe Løj refusing to convene the council to discuss the incident unless Palestinian attacks on Israel were also considered, arguing that the blast did not occur in a void and that Israel was responding to terror instigated by others.

Israeli reaction

Following the conclusion of the Israeli investigation, defense minister Peretz said, "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 responsibility 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."

Aftermath

Hamas officially withdrew from its 16 month old truce and began taking responsibility for Qassam Rockets launched into Israel. According to Israel, the former has been regularly violating it by firing rockets at Israeli civilian targets and other attacks

See also

• Operation Summer Rains
• November 2006 Beit Hanoun incident
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict