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Four Boys Killed in Israeli Strike on Gaza

Escalating air strikes targeted homes of senior Hamas leaders

by
Stephanie Butnick
July 16, 2014
Palestinian women grieve during the funerals of four boys killed during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City on July 16, 2014.(MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images)
Palestinian women grieve during the funerals of four boys killed during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City on July 16, 2014.(MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images)

Four Palestinian boys were killed in Israeli air strikes over a Gaza City beach Wednesday, the AP reports. The airstrikes, which have escalated since yesterday’s short-lived ceasefire, targeted the homes of senior Hamas leaders.

The four boys, who were cousins and ages 9 to 11, were killed while playing on a beach off a coastal road west of Gaza City, said Ashraf Al Kedra, a Palestinian doctor. Seven others — adults and children — were wounded in the strike, which Palestinian human rights activist Khaki Au Shamalla came from an Israeli naval vessel operating offshore.

The IDF is reportedly probing the children’s deaths. According to the Times of Israel, Maj. Gen. Noam Tibon has been appointed to investigate the deaths of any noncombatants during air strikes on Gaza. “The death toll in the more than week-long conflict has risen to over 212 Palestinians, of which the IDF says half are noncombatants,” they report.

The funeral of Dror Khenin, the one Israeli casualty of the near-constant rockets from Gaza, was held today, Haaretz reports.

Stephanie Butnick is chief strategy officer of Tablet Magazine, co-founder of Tablet Studios, and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.