(Communicated by the IDF Spokesperson)
Following recent media reports of several incidents in which civilians have supposedly been harmed by Israeli fire, the IDF Spokesman reiterates that Israeli forces do not target innocent civilians.
For the past 22 days, Israel has been involved in a complex combat situation in the Gaza Strip, in which it is fighting terrorists who do not hesitate to use the civilian population as human shields, or to exploit humanitarian installations as firing positions.
IDF soldiers have clear orders regarding rules of engagement. However, given the difficult combat circumstances, complex battles and fighting in urban settings, uninvolved civilians are unfortunately exposed to danger, just as Israeli soldiers are exposed to "friendly fire" incidents.
The IDF Spokesman referred to reports in the past few days regarding Israeli fire on UNRWA installations, al-Kuds Hospital, a media-oriented building and the house of Dr. Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish. The Spokesman wishes to clarify that preliminary results of the investigations, carried out under fire and at the division level, indicate that in all the above-mentioned incidents, Israeli forces were fired on from inside or adjacent to these locations, and that the IDF was responding to these attacks.
The IDF Spokesman emphasizes that these events are still under investigation by the Gaza Division and the Southern Command, and that more detailed information will be published in the future.
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Video on Youtube, showing out-takes of Alarabiya-TV's reporter Hannan al-Masri telling of a Hamas missile being fired in real time from the ground floor of the Gaza TV complex housing the Alarabiya Studio.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY50cktUKbA