Anytime Israel does anything militarily there are going to be accidents and there are going to be civilians that get hurt and killed, and the opponents of Israel will obviously make the most of those incidents for influencing world opinion. But sometimes Israel does things that just seem so incredibly counterproductive that I feel like they must be intentional. Why would they attack boys playing hide and seek on the beach right in front of the Al-Deira hotel where many journalists are staying to cover the conflict?
Of course, I understand that it’s possible that this attack was done in error. But I think this man makes a lot of sense:
As the reporters left, Mohammad Abu Watfah was wheeled out of a lift after surgery to remove the shrapnel in his stomach. As relatives gathered not far from the Al-Deira hotel to bury the four dead boys, barely 90 minutes after the attack on the beach, the boys’ uncle, Abdel Kareem Baker, 41, said: “It’s a cold-blooded massacre. It’s a shame they didn’t identify them as kids with all of the advanced technology they claim they’re using.”
Earlier in the article it was mentioned that all the victims were members of “the extended Bakr family.” Could this have been collective punishment for the transgressions of the patriarch? Did Israel know precisely who they were attacking?
I think this is a stronger possibility than that their drone operators can’t distinguish boys playing on the beach from members of Hamas.
And, if this is correct, then Israel actually wants the bad publicity because the whole point is to get families to insist that no one within their extended family have anything to do with Hamas lest the Israelis liquidate them all. The more people who hear of this tragedy the better because it will have more deterrent effect.
It might not even be the worst strategy for killing the resistance, but it’s impossible to reconcile with any human rights standard I can think of.