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IDF to Release New Findings Defending Gaza War Strike

(Ha'aretz) Anshel Pfeffer - The Israel Defense Forces will soon release new findings about a strike near the Ibrahim al-Maqadma Mosque during last year's Gaza operation in an effort to refute the Goldstone report which cited this incident as key evidence that Israel deliberately targeted civilians. The IDF report will confirm that the air force struck a target near the mosque, a group of armed Hamas operatives who were near the mosque's entrance. Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah Halevi, who investigated the Goldstone report's findings for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, found that web sites affiliated with Hamas reported that four of those killed were veteran fighters of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing. One of them, Ahmed Hamad Abu Ita, 25, had been ordered to deploy in accordance with a preexisting Hamas plan, the web site said, and had gone to the mosque to meet with other fighters. Also among the dead were two members of the Al-Quds Battalions, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, and another Hamas member who was 16 and in the group's youth wing. The Hamas reports said that all six of the adults had been involved in attacks on Israel both prior to and during the Gaza operation.
2010-03-05 08:05:47
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