Elder of Ziyon Daily News

To Nader's Unborn Children
Egyptian parliament demands expulsion of Israel ambassador
Latest Zionist crime: An offensive cigarette lighter
PA elections will be delayed. What a surprise.
Egyptian clerics: "Hatred of Jews is a form of worship" (MEMRI)
Islamist terrorist cell discovered - in Lebanese army
"Moderate" Fatah celebrates anniversary of Coastal Road Massacre
Islamic Jihad refuses cease fire - because they think they are winning
PRC terrorists admit Hamas is not discouraging rocket fire
Terrorists attack trucks bringing aid to Gaza
Palestinian Arabs lie about teenager death (updated)
Videos of IDF attacking terrorist weapons depots

Posted: 12 Mar 2012 07:52 PM PDT

A short article in the blog "Sleepless in Gaza" is getting a lot of attention, as it is filled with pathos - and more than a few lies sprinkled in:

To my unborn children,

I know you probably won't be there to read this. Maybe I would be dead before you see the light. Or rather, witness how very inhumane and so unjust this world has become. I'll just write anyway, maybe at least your elder brother or sister witnesses all that and read this.

Ever since I came to Gaza, I've been dreaming of a better life. Peaceful and quiet. No explosions or blood. No injuries or martyrs. Nothing but a regular peaceful life each and every one of us would wish for.

In Gaza, everything is different. In Gaza, Israeli F16s substitute birds. In Gaza, we sleep on the continuous buzzing coming from the ever-existent drones. We wake up to find that there's no electricity. In Gaza, explosions are the sunshine and the smell of ash is the cent of the city.

Electricity barely comes in Gaza, where it's very dangerous to live in. Every moment you live is considered a new life because it's very dangerous and Israelis bring their toys over to Gaza and play with us the hard way.

My beloved unborn children, being a Gazan means that you're strong willed, courageous, and like no other. As you grow up, you'll learn all about the different kinds of weapons and arms both allowed and internationally forbidden. What's different in Gaza is that Israel doesn't distinguish its targets. Meaning, they kill anything that moves with a smile. Frankly, they would kill us more than once if possible.

Growing up in Gaza isn't easy. Growing up in Gaza is a challenge. A quest. And the reward is a strong courageous personality. So brave to the point that you'd stand in front of a tank with a bare chest and a rock. Daring it to move forward yelling 'over my dead body'. More like mashed if you want to know.

Another thing you'll gain as a Gazan is that you'll be able to distinguish the sounds of whatever that kills. Be a M-16, AK-47, .50 Cal, Shells from the Israeli warships in the sea, warplanes in the sky, tank shells, and the list goes on forever. Living in Gaza is a challenge of patience. Only the strong and the brave can survive. By survive, I mean living yet another day of struggle and a million hardships a day.

Last but not least, don't leave Palestine. It's where you belong. It's where everything counts and where whatever little will make a huge change. Don't leave Palestine because it's my motherland. Your motherland. Don't leave Palestine because at the end of the day, it's all you've got left. Don't leave Palestine even if you'll be living on olive oil and thyme all your life.

PS: tell your mother that I love her so much. Kiss her cheeks and forehead for me.

With all my love,
Papa.

The most outrageous lie is, of course, "Israel doesn't distinguish its targets. Meaning, they kill anything that moves with a smile. Frankly, they would kill us more than once if possible." This sickening calumny inserted in an otherwise heart-rending piece turns this from what could have been brilliant into just another case of inciting hate against Israeli Jews.

But there is much to be said for the piece, as no one - not even a Zionist - can fail to be moved by the light of Gazans. The problem is that the anger is misplaced.

So, even though the truth has no chance of infiltrating the pitch-black hate that the Arab world has for Israel, here is a Zionist's letter to Nader's unborn children:

Dear children,

You don't know me. And there are many people who want to make sure that you never will know me.

Because there are many people - your leaders, your teachers, your journalists - who have much at stake in painting me and all Zionists as evil, genocidal murderers.

In 2005, after much agonizing and soul-searching, Israel decided to uproot hundreds of Jewish, Zionist families from Gaza. Gazans were chafing under Israeli rule, and Israelis there were living in fear of terror attacks from Gazans. While the Jewish residents who lived there did not want to go, the Israeli government - led by the most right-wing prime minister in Israeli history - decided to forcibly remove them. Perhaps you can appreciate how much it hurts to lose one's home.

The reason Israel decided to do this was simple: it was hoped that such a move would help bring peace to the region. Without the Israeli presence there, people thought that Gaza could turn into a Singapore on the Mediterranean. There would be no more reason for rocket attacks on Jewish communities. The Palestinians could build their own paradise.

Some wealthy American Zionists even paid millions of dollars to buy the greenhouses the Israelis were leaving behind, as a gift to help Gaza's economy and to help jump start the metamorphosis of the sector into an oasis of peace. No one wanted peace more that Israel, and no one sacrificed more for peace than Israel. The lies you are being fed in school - that Israel is an expansionist state dedicated to stealing land from Arabs - were shown to be false, because Israel left Gaza for only one reason: in the hopes of bringing peace to the region.

Things did not turn out that way.

Militant groups in Gaza continued to shoot rockets at Israel. Hamas ended up taking over the area, killing hundreds of fellow Palestinians in the process. An Israeli soldier was kidnapped in Gaza.

The leaders of Gaza - your leaders - never dismantled a single refugee camp. They imported thousands of weapons. They allied with Iran. They continued to threaten Israel and they continued to attack Israel.

You may not believe this, but no one would be happier with a peaceful Gaza than Israel would. No Zionist wants to see anyone in Gaza suffer. Nothing would thrill Zionists more than to see a Gaza where both sides can freely cross the border to buy goods or work without fear of being murdered by the other. The IDF does not kill innocent people on purpose - ever. No Israeli celebrates when innocents are, invariably, killed. And, as much as you are taught otherwise, Israel spends tens of millions of dollars to ensure that innocent civilians would not be hurt in Gaza when it defends itself.

Yes, Israel defends itself. And it will continue to do so. It is maddening that after the painful withdrawal from Gaza - a land that Jews have lived in, on and off, for over two thousand years - the peace that they yearned for never came. On the contrary, the rocket attacks on innocent Negev communities increased. Israel is a sovereign nation and it will not tolerate attacks on its citizens. And you know quite well that the thousands of rockets that come from Gaza are aimed squarely at Israeli civilians. Israel will defend itself, and she will not apologize for it.

But she wishes she wouldn't have to.

Once upon a time, not long ago, there was the Erez Industrial Zone, where thousands of Gazans were employed and were able to support their families in dignity. It is no longer there, and the reason is because the terrorists that Gaza hosts and often celebrates would keep attacking it. The idea of co-existence and peace is not what Hamas or Islamic Jihad want.

Once upon a time, after the 2008-9 Gaza war - the war that your leaders started with a barrage of rockets similar to those seen this past weekend, in what they called Operation Oil Stain, a full three days before Israel attacked - Israel built a field hospital to help those injured in the war at Erez. Your leadership forbade anyone from coming and being helped.

Even today, while Israel is under fire - on the same day that your leaders shot mortars directly at the crossing where aid goes into Gaza - Israel did not close the crossing and sent hundreds of trucks over, because Israel does not want to hurt the innocent people of Gaza.

The only people who are aiming their weapons at civilians, on purpose, are the terrorists that your leaders are supporting. The only people who celebrate the deaths of innocent civilians are those on your side.

If you are willing to open your eyes, just a little, you will see what your leaders have done - that they have cynically hidden weapons in your mosques and neighbors' homes, that they have created an electricity crisis and power shortage because they are placing their own political goals above your welfare, that they have raised entire generations on hate rather than wishes for peace.

Israel wants peace, a real, lasting peace with all her neighbors. Your leaders have said, quite clearly and explicitly, that this is not what they want - they want to see the end of Israel.

So here we are. Do you want Gaza to become a Singapore or an Afghanistan? Whichever you choose, it will come true, sooner than you think. And if you choose the right one, your own children will never need to hear machine guns or rockets or warplanes and they will be able to grow up in peace and prosperity.

I wish you would get to know me. I don't hate you. And I would prefer to be friends.

Wishing you all long and peaceful lives where friendship and replace enmity and cooperation can replace hate,

A Zionist.

Egyptian parliament demands expulsion of Israel ambassador

Posted: 12 Mar 2012 05:44 PM PDT

From Egypt Independent:

In an evening session Monday, the People's Assembly demanded the deportation of the Israeli ambassador, Yaakov Amitai, and the withdrawal of the Egyptian ambassador from Tel Aviv.

The assembly voted unanimously on a statement prepared by the Committee on Arab Affairs, which also called for stopping gas exports to Israel in protest against the brutal attacks committed by Israel against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, considering it a flagrant violation of human rights.

Assembly speaker Saad al-Katatny asked a special parliamentary committee to follow up the implementation of the demands with the government.

The statement said, "Egypt after the revolution will never be a friend of the Zionist entity, the first enemy of Egypt and the Arab nation," and demanded that the Egyptian government review all its relations and agreements with that "enemy."

It also called for activating the Arab boycott of the "Zionist entity" and the international companies that deal with it, considering such boycott strong support of the "choice of resistance," the strategic option for the liberation of the occupied territories.

Sounds like the "new" Egypt is taking rhetorical talking points from Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Latest Zionist crime: An offensive cigarette lighter

Posted: 12 Mar 2012 02:10 PM PDT

From Quds Media, in another embarrassing attempt to incite Arabs to war:

In what is being seen as an extension of the commercialization of Israel's formal Judaisation policies, an Israeli company has sparked wide condemnation for marketing a new lighter which has the Israeli flag superimposed on a picture of the Dome of the Rock in occupied Jerusalem's Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa. "Israel" is written alongside in Hebrew. Al-Aqsa Foundation for Religious Endowment and Heritage has called the company's act "a flagrant violation of Al-Aqsa Mosque and an attempt to Judaise it".

In a statement released to the media, the Foundation said that the Israeli occupation authorities "are trying, through state institutions and now commercial ventures to obliterate Islamic landmarks, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque". The mosque has been the site of armed incursions by illegal Jewish settlers intent on carrying out Talmudic rituals inside Islam's third holiest mosque. "This move emphasises the threat to Al-Aqsa Mosque," claimed the Foundation.

"Israel is trying to strengthen its occupation and hold over Al-Aqsa," said the statement, "and this is not the first time that the image of Al-Aqsa has been used to promote Israeli goods." This was a reference to an earlier use of the mosque's picture on Israeli wine bottles.

Actually, they were vodka bottles as well as wine bottles.

PA elections will be delayed. What a surprise.

Posted: 12 Mar 2012 01:00 PM PDT

From The National (UAE):

Palestinians will not hold presidential and parliamentary elections in May because of disagreements between the two main political factions, a Palestinian elections official said this week.

The gridlocked Hamas-Fatah reconciliation has made it impossible for the Palestinian Central Elections Commission (CEC) to hold elections on May 4, the date originally set by the groups, said the Ramallah-based organisation's chief electoral officer, Hisham Kuhail.

"May 4 is out of the question," said Mr Kuhail, who oversees the CEC. In an interview with The National, he said the commission cannot stage the election primarily because Hamas will not allow it to make the necessary preparations in Gaza, such as updating the voting registry and installing voting centres.

The problem can be resolved only by "real reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah", he said.

Further, under Palestinian law, Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, must issue a decree instructing the CEC to begin preparing for the elections. This process takes 90 days.

"But to this moment, that has not happened," Mr Kuhail said.

The earliest feasible date to organise an election would be after June, he said.

A Hamas-Fatah agreement signed in Cairo last year was supposed to have led to an interim government that would govern both Gaza and the West Bank until elections took place.

Mr Abbas probably will not issue the order for the elections until Hamas and Fatah settle their disagreements over who will run the interim government, sources say.

Given how Gaza Hamas leader Haniyeh has been acting alike a head of state, undermining not only Abbas but even Hamas political leader Meshal, this is hardly surprising. Hamas will not willingly give up or share power in Gaza, and indeed will do everything they can to take over in Ramallah as well, hoping for an Egyptian-style revolution that would replace the current PA leadership with Islamists.

See also Elliot Abrams' commentary.

(h/t Ian)

Egyptian clerics: "Hatred of Jews is a form of worship" (MEMRI)

Posted: 12 Mar 2012 11:40 AM PDT

This one's got it all: Jews are donkeys, "President" Benjamin Franklin (who was president 50 years ago) warned the US against them, calls to kill all Jews, and more.

But don't call them anti-semitic.

Egyptian cleric Gharib Ramadhan: There are very many traits that characterize the Jews, and the Koran focused on a few of them, such as the violation of commitments, from which we suffer to this day. Not just us in Egypt – the entire world suffers from this.

Another trait is their hard-heartedness, God forbid. If you want to know what true hard-heartedness means, go to the Jews. You will find a lot of it there.

[…]

They were deported from England by King Edward, and from France by King Philip. They were deported from Hungary, from Belgium, from Czechoslovakia, from Austria – I won't start with the dates – from Holland, from the Kingdom of Naples, from Russia… Wherever they go they get deported and then they return. For example, they went back to France and to Hungary, and were deported again. If they are good people, how come people get rid of them?

Allah punished them by transforming them into apes and pigs, and by prohibiting them from eating several edible things. He forbade them to eat anything with claws – animals and birds that do not have cloven hooves, like camels, geese, ducks… They are prohibited from eating ducks. If Sheik Amin were here, he could have told us how greatly they were punished.

Moderator: May Allah reward you, Dr. Gharib.

Egyptian cleric Shihab Al-Din Abu Zahu: I would like to comment on…

Moderator: Make it quick, we have a break.

Shihab Al-Din Abu Zahu: He said that they were deported from wherever they went. US President Benjamin Franklin… It is the US that sponsors them today, but if the Americans had acted upon Franklin's legacy, they would have saved America. May Allah make them fall along with the Jews.

US President Benjamin Franklin said: "A great danger threatens the United States of America. That danger is the Jewish danger. In whichever land the Jews have settled, they have corrupted the morals, and lowered the level of commercial honesty. They always isolate themselves and never mix with others. For more than 1,700 years, they have been lamenting their fate, because they were expelled from the lands of their forefathers.

If Palestine were given back to them, not all of them would go there, because they are parasites and cannot live at the expense of their own kind. They must live among the Christians or others not of their race.

If these Jews are not expelled from the United States by the Constitution, within a century, they will be streaming into the US in such large numbers that will enable them to rule and destroy our people. They will change the form of government for which we shed our blood, and for which we have sacrificed our lives, our property, and our personal freedom. Within less than a century, our grandchildren will have to work in the fields in order to feed the Jews, while the Jews control the financial institutions. If the American people do not deport the Jews once and for all, their children and grandchildren will curse them in their graves.

The values of the Jews are not the same of those of the Americans, and will not be the same even if the Jews live among us for ten generations. A leopard cannot change its spots. The Jews will pose a danger to America, if they are allowed freely in. They will destroy US institutions, and the Americans must deport by the Constitution." These are the words of US President Franklin.

[…]

Egyptian cleric Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sawi: In the Koran, Allah called the Jews "donkeys." Donkeys. They are donkeys. What can you do with a donkey? Allah said: "Those who were charged with the Torah, but failed [in this obligation], are similar to a donkey carrying books." These are the Jews, right? They failed in the obligation to carry the Torah.

We are not talking about the Jews of the days of Moses. They repented. They were tormented until they believed in Moses. We don't mean those Jews. We mean the Jews of today. They are like donkeys carrying books. There is a very symbolic story that really moved me.

A man was sitting in his home, when all of a sudden, in walked a donkey. What was he supposed to do with this donkey? He began screaming: "Donkey, get out! Get out!" But the donkey wouldn't leave. "Don't you understand? Get out," he said, but the donkey wouldn't budge. What was he to do? He grabbed a microphone, and screamed: "People, I have a donkey in my home, and he must leave." But the donkey would not move. He brought all the neighbors, and they all began shouting: "We denounced the donkey for entering your home." But the donkey wouldn't leave.

The man said to the donkey: "The apartment has three bedrooms, a bathroom, and a living room. Take one room, and leave the rest to us." The donkey twitched its ear, but wouldn't leave. The man said: "Donkey, take two rooms," but the donkey wouldn't leave. "Take the room, and we will live in the bathroom." To no avail. Finally, the people began to scream: "The donkey won't leave!"

A little boy heard them, walked in with a small stick, and began beating the donkey until it got out. Beat a donkey, and it will immediately jump. That's what you do with donkeys.

[…]

[The Jews] support all the means of corruption. They support whorehouses. They support satellite dishes in order to air whatever they like. Birth control pills and devices are supported by the Jews. Dr. Shihab quoted President Franklin, who was US president 40-50 years ago. He said that they spread corruption even among the Americans. That is why they were deported from everywhere.

[…]
Egyptian cleric 'Alaa Said: The [Jews] are treacherous. Allah, who created them, told us so. We must be resolute and fill hearts with hatred and loathing. By Allah, the hatred and loathing of Jews is a form of worship. When we make our children loathe the Jews, it is a form of worship of Allah. These are people hated and loathed by Allah.

[…]

Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sawi: I want our children to be raised on this notion. When I give a child a toy, I give him a gun, not a football. Enough with the football. I give him a gun and tell him: Shoot, but don't shoot your brother. Shoot the Jews.

(h/t O)

Islamist terrorist cell discovered - in Lebanese army

Posted: 12 Mar 2012 10:40 AM PDT

From Naharnet:

Prime Minister Najib Miqati confirmed on Monday that the Lebanese army had busted a cell within its ranks planning attacks on military barracks.

In remarks to reporters at the Grand Serail, Miqati said: "The Lebanese army uncovered a terrorist cell that was planning an attack on its barracks and is carrying out the necessary investigation."

He said the cell is active in northern Lebanon with branches in the Palestinian camps and mainly in Ain al-Hilweh. "But it has nothing to do with the situation in Syria."

His confirmation came after al-Akhbar daily reported that the army arrested two Salafist soldiers linked to the Abdullah Azzam Brigades allied with the al-Qaida terrorist network.

The men are reportedly part of a larger network consisting of four Lebanese and one Palestinian identified as Abu Mohammed Toufiq Taha who is the Brigades' ringleader in Ain el-Hilweh and wanted on several charges.

While Taha is on the run, the other six were arrested by the army intelligence, al-Akhbar said.

How much vetting does the Lebanese army do, anyway? "Do you hate Israel? OK, you're in!"

"Moderate" Fatah celebrates anniversary of Coastal Road Massacre

Posted: 12 Mar 2012 09:30 AM PDT

Yesterday was the anniversary of the 1978 Coastal Road Massacre, where 38 Israelis - including 13 children - were murdered by a team of bus hijackers that was led by celebrated Palestinian Arab terrorist Dalal Mughrabi.

So Fatah is celebrating this great victory.

Fatah organized a soccer tournament and a poetry festival in the name of Mughrabi. Events were held in Khan Younis and Ramallah. Prominent Fatah members spoke. A special radio show to mark the event was broadcast.

Israel's supposed peace partners celebrate the murder of these Jewish children every year, and indeed all year, as this PA video from January shows:

Islamic Jihad refuses cease fire - because they think they are winning

Posted: 12 Mar 2012 08:20 AM PDT

Islamic Jihad put out an announcement saying that they refuse to consider a cease-fire from their rocket attacks. And the reason seems to be that they think that they are winning.

The Al-Quds Brigades military wing of Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, Saraya ...announced its responsibility for the bombing of targets with missiles named "Locusts" and "Jerusalem" and "107" and mortars. The number of rockets and missiles launched by Saraya since the start of the aggression is now more than 180.

The Al-Quds Brigades in several separate military communications, said the harvest of jihad in the ongoing battle with the enemy for a fourth day in a row came as follows:
- Q 2:50 dawn: the bombing of the city of Ashkelon with a Jerusalem rocket.
- 3:10 am Q: the bombing of the city of Beersheba Grad rocket.
- 3:20 am Q: Beersheba bombing Grad rocket.
- Q 4:00: the bombing of a gathering of the mechanisms of Zionism within the site Kissufim mortar with 3 120 mm.
- Q 7:30: the bombing of the Sufa crossing a missile 107.
- Q 9:30: the bombing of the city of Beersheba, occupied by 3 Grad rockets.
- Q 9:40: the bombing of military site Kerem Shalom with 3 mortars.
- 10:15 Q: the bombing of the occupied city of Ashdod with a Grad rocket.
- 10:30 Q: the bombing of a military post east of Beit Hanoun by two mortars.
- 11:20 Q: bombing a missile complex in Eshkol with a 107.
- 12:30 Q: bombing site Nahal Oz with 3 missiles, "107."
- 12:40 Q: occupied Beersheba bombing by 3 Grad rockets.
- 1:15 pm: City of Gan Yavne bombing with a Grad.

Al-Quds Brigades confirmed that there is no truce with the Zionist enemy, and that the battle is still open and ongoing. It stressed to move forward on the approach of the martyrs and the resistance until the liberation of the entire territory of Palestine from the sea to the river.

The "Al-Quds Brigades" military wing of Islamic Jihad still leads the field of resistance and confrontation, and made enormous sacrifices of the finest Mujahideen and fighters, and managed thanks to God to shoot to the occupation more than 170 rockets and shells since the start of the Zionist aggression on the Gaza Strip.

On the other hand the life in cities and Zionist settlements is now non-existent, and millions of Zionist usurpers are still inside the shelters, for the fourth consecutive day, out of fear and horror of the blessed rockets of the Quds Brigades, that have turned their nights into day, and towns into ghost towns, amid the continuing enemy leaders begging for calm demanding the return of calm and cease missiles, and this is what Al-Quds Brigades rejects out of hand, to not allow the enemy to pay themselves with the blood of the Mujahideen and their leaders and heroes of the resistance, whenever he pleases.

For its part, the leadership of "Al-Quds Brigades" military wing of Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine will continue its jihad at all costs, in light of the Zionist escalation of the Gaza Strip, and will not talk about calm at all.

The command said in a statement to Al Saraya yesterday that the bombing would be met by bombing and to step up the escalation will be met, and will continue to respond to crimes of the occupation against the Mujahideen and their leaders and heroes of the Palestinian resistance. She added that the morale of the hero fighters are at the highest levels.

Islamic Jihad stresses that she has the means to survive and continue, warning the occupation against going too far in his crimes against the militants in the Gaza Strip. And at the same time it denied the rumors of the news of a calm that was to enter into force at 12 last night.

The Islamic Jihad websites are filled with contradictory articles about how the Zionists are being forced to run to shelters and stay away from school, while at the same time they are performing war crimes on the citizens of Gaza.

Here are the brave mujahadeen who are too afraid to show their faces at a press conference:

PRC terrorists admit Hamas is not discouraging rocket fire

Posted: 12 Mar 2012 07:18 AM PDT

Hamas apologists love to say that any rocket fire from Gaza is done despite Hamas efforts for calm. While this may be true sometimes, the current attacks - some 180 rockets since Friday - are being done without any Hamas interference whatsoever.

Keep in mind that Hamas has complete control over the tunnels into Gaza, so it knows about every rocket being smuggled in. And that means that every Grad rocket being shot by terror groups like Islamic Jihad were acquired with the full knowledge and approval of Hamas.

(h/t Ian)

Terrorists attack trucks bringing aid to Gaza

Posted: 12 Mar 2012 06:05 AM PDT

From the IDF:

This morning, Palestinian terrorists fired three mortars on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing. The mortars struck a truck and a van on their way to deliver goods to the people of Gaza. Following the shooting, activity at the crossing was suspended for just a few minutes. After evaluating the situation, it was decided to continue operations at the crossing, where goods continue to be transferred from Israel into the Gaza Strip.

Yesterday, over 180 trucks of goods were transferred from Israel to Gaza.

COGAT adds:

The mortars hit the Palestinian side of the crossing and hit a Palestinian truck that transfers goods from Israel to Gaza Strip, also the Palestinian crossing manager car was hit.

Israel continues to send aid to Gaza even when the aid trucks themselves are being shelled by Gazans!

Will anyone in Gaza condemn the firing of mortars aimed at aid trucks - even when those mortars land on the Arab side of the crossing?

Palestinian Arabs lie about teenager death (updated)

Posted: 12 Mar 2012 04:35 AM PDT

Ma'an reports:

Israeli airstrikes killed two Islamic Jihad militants and a 15-year-old boy on Monday, bringing the death toll since Friday to 21 people.

Nayif Shaaban Qarmout, 15, was killed in Beit Lahiya, north Gaza, Ma'an's correspondent said.

Witnesses said that the 15-year-old was playing with friends in a play ground near his school when an Israeli missile hit the area.

But AFP reports:

The Israeli army on Monday denied it had carried out an air strike on northern Gaza which killed a teenager, with an AFP correspondent confirming there was no sign of an air raid.

Fifteen-year-old Nayef Qarmut was killed and six other teenagers injured as they were on their way to school near the northern town of Beit Lahiya, with a spokesman for the Palestinian medical services blaming an Israeli drone strike.

"A drone strike hit a group of students who were walking by empty land on their way to school," said spokesman Adham Abu Selmiya, describing an incident which occurred at around 9:30am (0730 GMT).

But the Israeli military, after looking into the claim, denied it had conducted any air strikes in northern Gaza then, saying the last time it had struck the area was in the early hours of Monday.

"From an initial check, there were no air strikes in the northern Gaza Strip since the early hours of the morning," a military spokesman told AFP.

According to an AFP correspondent at the scene, there were no signs of any impact on the ground which could have been caused by a missile, with the most likely cause of his death being some kind of explosive device he was carrying.

The victim lost his legs in the blast and his body was covered with shrapnel wounds, he said.

Six other school children were injured, two of whom were in critical condition, while four sustained moderate wounds, medics said.

Once again, when both sides make contradictory claims, and the facts are checked out, it is found that that the Palestinian Arabs lie, repeatedly.

Yet many journalists, and especially "advocacy journalists," will unquestioningly believe any statements given out by Palestinian Arab officials and supposed "eyewitnesses."

UPDATE: PCHR also mindlessly repeats the lie, showing that it does not investigate allegations the way it pretends to.

(h/t T34)