Israeli airstrike hits Reuters vehicle

By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer
Sun Aug 27, 4:10 AM ET

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060827/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians


GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli aircraft fired two missiles early Sunday at an armored car belonging to the Reuters news agency, wounding five people, including two cameramen, Palestinian witnesses and hospital officials said.

The Israeli army said it did not realize the car's passengers were journalists and only attacked because the vehicle was driving in a suspicious manner near Israeli troops in the middle of a combat zone.

(snip)

The airstrike on the journalists' car came as Israeli soldiers backed by two dozen tanks, two bulldozers, helicopters and drone planes moved into an area just inside the Gaza Strip near the Karni crossing, witnesses and Palestinian security officials said.

The army said the troops were searching for explosives planted by Palestinian militants alongside the border fence and for tunnels under the border. After the operation began, groups of militants repeatedly gathered to try to attack the soldiers, the army and witnesses said.

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on MSM afterall Israel is just protecting herself. :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

So who is breaking the ceasefire again?

have used vehicles marked as Press/UN/Red Cross/Emergency to move people and weapons. Those logos alone will not protect a vehicle from the IDF, though it might give them pause.

I am not supporting the IDF claim, but its clearly what they believe.

not a good argument on the IDF's part

And from time to time they have offered justification.

Also they are claiming that they did not know there was a legitimate press vehicle operating in the area. My read of that is that signs alone are not enough for them, precoordination is required (sound familiar?) and without it, the press are risking becoming the star attaction in a TOO attack.

Again, not agreeing with the IDF position, but they are being consistent.

both figtters and explosives, and even the ICRC slapped the Palestinian Red Cross for that, now more than once. So they have found this done... for real

And having done this work myself I know how damn easy it is to loose your neutrality in a warzone. Once you loose it, it takes a while to regain it. In the meantime those who are travelling on LEGITIMATE means pay the price. Oh and this comment applies to any conflict in the world, by the by

Careful with that broad brush there.

anyone else notice that? :shrug:

Seems like they're always hitting a UN-this or News Agency-that.

Israeli attacks on civilian targets are meant to terrorize the civilian population into turning in the Hezbollah operatives.

Both sides are wrong, both sides are using terrorism against civilians.

During the conflict the UN posted exact Israeli troop movements on their website, step by step, blow by blow within 30 minutes of them happening. They did not do that for Hezbollah.

Also remember in 2000 when the three soldiers were kidnapped, the UN had video of this happening and REFUSED to turn it over to the Israelis for 9 months. Meanwhile portion of the video appeared on the Hezbollah and Syrian television stations. This led to the killing of the soldiers and a terrorist prisoner/body exchange just to get the remains back.

I really think the Israelis supremely distrust the UN, and may fire on them for a reason.

Remember right before we invaded Iran they told all the reporters to get embedded or else, so the military can protect them and make sure their stories are accurate and don't make us look bad?

I don't think any of the ones who stayed embedded have gotten killed but lots who didn't have, so maybe Israel is warning them to get embedded and also maybe they were in a closed military zone where they were conducting secret operations.

But OK for a long time I didn't pay any attention to any of this stuff and it is just in the last really like couple of years that I have been reading about it etc and one of the things I have learned is that just because a few people think something is wrong doesn't make us stop doing it, or even if more people think it is wrong.

Also, I had to go and the editing period expired but in my message it should have said Iraq and not Iran. It was a typo and also I was thinking about another thread on here that was about Iran.

about "secret operations"...how convenient

that the people who are against the occupation will use it as propaganda to make Israel look bad. We say the same thing about secret operations that we do especially when it is one that is going to have a lot of collateral damage.

This is the third thread on this event ... but it doesn't change the reality. More details

Witnesses said the missile struck the Reuters armored car despite the fact it was clearly labeled as a media vehicle, with signs on all sides, including the roof. The incident, however, occurred in the early hours of Sunday before sunrise.

and

The airstrike came as Israeli soldiers backed by two dozen tanks, two
bulldozers, helicopters and drone planes moved into an area just inside the Gaza Strip near the Karni crossing, witnesses and Palestinian security officials said.

The IDF said the troops were searching for explosives planted by Palestinian militants alongside the border fence.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/755221.html

Context matters.

freedom of the press--the peoples right to know? how about holding people and governments accountable for their decisions? how about the responsibility of the 4th estate not to be intimated by by individuals and governments....

I have no problem with reporters putting themselves in harm's way to get first hand observations, but I do object when the inevitable casulaties are presented as deliberate targets. So don't bother lecturing me on the value of a free press ... I've done more than my share to get progressive media in *this* country back on track.

Infrared can detect the truck, but I doubt it can read what it says on the truck; it's color blind. Words like "press" come to mind. Besides, incidents in the past where Israeli snipers have supposedly shot press journalists have warranted far more investigation and criticism where found to be true than this case.

I've seen the photos..and if that car was hit by a missile, I'm Joan of Arc.

The tyres are still on...hell the windows aren't even broken.

I think not.Unless that vehicle was a hole in the ground or in very small pieces of confetti...it's garbage.

Even if the missile didn't explode, the energy of a missle travelling at close to mach one would
tear the car to tiny bits.

Survivors?? Not a chance in hell.

Is that it?

But a sniper would put one through the windshield..not through the roof.And the windscreen is intact..and the driver and passenger,alive.

Must not be a very well trained sniper....

The story says it was a missile or missiles fired from an Israeli plane.

The photos show holes, granted..but if even an ordinary Sidewinder had hit that car...it'd be in pieces.

As to what or who caused the holes...who knows???

All I am saying is that car was NOT hit by a missile fired by an Israeli fighter..and btw..what kind of missile?

HARM? It isnt a radar shack

Infrared? Those are air to air, not air to ground.

A Hellfire?? Those are wire guided and you cant miss..and a direct missile hit would leave a smoking hole in the ground. See what I mean?And Hellfires are fired from choppers, not from jet aircraft.AMRAAM means Air to Air missile.

It may have been hit by something...maybe...but a missile???

Absolute B.S.

can't snipers fly in aircraft too?

n/t

It's kinda hard to grasp what you are describing without
the pictures, y'know?

And BTW, welcome to DU!:hi:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/27/AR2006082700123.html

and

http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-08-27T213136Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-265062-1.xml&archived=False

Now take a look at a car that WAS hit by a missile or a rocket



It IS possible...even likely...that it was peppered by shrapnel..of that there is every likelihood.

Now, I do feel the need to point out that the car
in the photo you posted was NOT an armored vehicle,
so it really doesn't provide any standard of comparison.

That being said, THIS is, indeed, an odd bit of damage for a "missile strike":


If it was a missile, it was a small one NOT designed to take out
armored vehicles. That hole looks like damage from a physical impact,
not an explosion. The explosion itself seems to have occurred
OUTSIDE the vehicle; peeling the paint and damaging the roof rack further
back.

I'm thinking this must have been a small Anti-Personnel rocket
of some sort. Whatever made that hole had to be moving pretty darn
fast, but it was still more-or-less DEFEATED by some pretty thin "armor".
The explosion was mostly OUTSIDE the vehicle, and did only minor damage.

Those guys inside were very lucky, IMO.