Israeli naval ship purposefully targets and bombs Palestinian children playing on Gaza beach, killing four

William Booth
The Washington Post
Wed, 16 Jul 2014 10:39 UTC

© Reuters

A man on a beach in Gaza City carries a child in the aftermath of Israeli shelling

It is not unusual for militants to launch rockets from sites near my hotel. Israeli missiles have also landed pretty close to Al Deira, an old red stucco inn with a large terrace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Just a few hundred yards down the beach is the fishing harbor.

I had just returned to the hotel to type up some notes and file inserts on the day's news when there was a large explosion on the quay at the port, a little after 4'o clock in the afternoon.

We could smell the charge. I wondered: Did Hamas just fire a rocket? But it was the sound of an incoming missile. We saw a small fisherman's shack on the quay, churning with gray smoke.

Then we saw a gang of kids running from the shack, down the breakwater and onto the sand, hurtling toward Al Deira. A couple of waiters, the cook and a few journalists starting waving at them. Run here! Then a second missile exploded on the beach right behind them.

The staff were yelling, "They're hurt!"

A half-dozen kids made it to hotel. The oldest was a teenager, who reached safety and fainted. He was scooped up and carried away to a taxi by the big friendly bear of a bellman, room cleaner and night watchman named Mahmoud Abu Zbaidah.

© Robert Tait

A young boy lies on the floor of a restaurant in a hotel, where his wounds have been treated, following the attack

Two young terrified kids were bleeding and injured, and they were quickly bandaged on the floor of the terrace, where guests usually eat skewers of grilled chicken, suck on water pipes and watch the sun go down. The kids suffered from shrapnel wounds, one to the head, one to the chest. They were treated by translators, hotel staff, and journalists, who ran up to their rooms to grab medical kits.

On the quay, ambulances took away four more. They either died on the pier or at the hospital, I am not sure. The Gaza Health Ministry tweeted their names a few minutes later: Mohammed Baker, 9; Ahed Baker, 10; Zakaria Baker, 10; and Mohammed Baker, 11.

All cousins, we are told, scrawny fishermen's kids whom we saw every day, running around on the beach, playing in the waves.

© Robert Tait

A child cries, suffering from shock after the attack

Comment: The Guardian reports about the same event:

Journalists heard two loud explosions outside the Gaza City hotel, before children were pulled into the restaurant area for treatment.

A journalist who saw the incident said some of the children who survived were running away when another shell seemed to be aimed at them.