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Turnabout is fair play (Heh)

A little accident in Gaza today -- ABC/AP has the story:

Blast at Hamas Rally Kills 10, Injures 85
Truck With Militants, Homemade Rockets Blows Up at Hamas Rally; 10 People Dead, 85 Others Hurt

A truck filled with masked militants and homemade weapons exploded at a Hamas rally Friday, killing at least 10 Palestinians and wounding 85 including children bringing a grisly and terrifying end to one of the last gatherings by armed groups celebrating Israel's Gaza pullout.

The blast sent a huge cloud of white smoke over the mass festivities, a sea of green Hamas flags and thousands of people gathered at Jebaliya, a Palestinian refugee camp that was the scene of harsh fighting between militants and Israeli soldiers during the past five years of violence.

After initial confusion, people began running away from the rally and gunmen fired in the air. People wailed in grief as others tried to tend to the mangled and dismembered bodies of the dead and wounded.

Mishandled explosives apparently caused the blast, which came a day before an agreement by militants not to publicly parade weapons is to take effect.

Witnesses said many children were among the casualties.

Hamas said six militants were killed, including Jihad Shaleal, head of the group's military wing in Jebaliya. Hamas blamed Israel, but the Israeli military denied any connection. Palestinian security officials said the blast was an accident.

To injure children is a tragedy. For everyone else, you sow what you reap. And of course, they learned from their lesson:

But Palestinian officials said the explosion was set off by the mishandling of explosives. The Interior Ministry issued a statement calling on Hamas "to shoulder its responsibility for these ... explosions instead of making accusations against others."

An accidental explosion would be only the latest in a string of deadly mishaps for militant groups in Gaza.

A Hamas weapons warehouse exploded this month in Gaza City, killing six people. Hamas claimed it was an Israeli attack, but Palestinian security forces found the blast was an accident caused by the militants.

During an Islamic Jihad rally at the abandoned Jewish settlement of Netzarim last week, a gunman died after accidentally shooting himself in the head.

Even after the blast Friday, seven or eight gunmen stood in the back of another truck riding through Gaza, using their feet to stop a half-dozen rockets from bouncing around in the bed.

Emphasis mine -- the Israeli's don't have to kill the terrorists, they are doing a fine job of it themselves. Talk about pig ignorant! Posted by DaveH at September 23, 2005 2:09 PM