UPDATED: WHAT HAPPENED ON THE BEACH?

The intitial reports were horrific. An errant Israeli missile had killed a family of Palestinian civilians picnicing on the beach. The film foottage was heart breaking. A little girl running among her blood soaked family, screaming for her father. I saw this all reported on the major networks over the weekend. The media was quick to blame Israel and Israel was quick to apologize. After all, unlike its enemies, Israel does not deliberately target civilians (among whom its enemies often hide).

But is this what really happened. Excuse me for being suspicious. I recall the phoney "massacre" of Jenin. I recall film footage of Palestinians marching, carrying corpses which fell off gurneys only to run along side the gurney and miraculously jump back up. Also, isn't it convenient for Hamas that this occurs just as Abbas is putting forth a plebicide moving the Palestinians toward a less adversarial relationship with Israel? And what a strange coincidence that there was a film crew with this family at the beach at the exact moment the explosion occurred.

Could this tragedy have been caused by a stray Qassam missile fired from Gaza at Israel by Hamas? Could a hidden Hamas weapons cache exploded on the beach? Israel is investigating whether it was responsible, but is now denying that it fire a shell. Needless to say, the Palestinians are refusing to cooperate with the investigation. In fact, Hamas has been quick to "clean up" the site.

The best that can be said is that the media won't pay attention to the story now that the news cycle has passed. If Israel is cleared, it won't be covered with the same hysterics as the intial blame.

Was Israel Responsible for Gaza Beach Blast? - Hanan Greenberg
Seven members of a Palestinian family were killed in an explosion on a Gaza beach on Friday that was blamed on Israel. Tragic pictures of a seven-year-old girl, orphaned by the blast, running around her dying father, were broadcast around the world. But by Sunday, accumulating proof is suggesting that the blast may not have been caused by an IDF shell. Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Sunday that the security establishment had completely excluded the possibility that the explosion was caused by an IDF air force or naval strike.

Regarding, the possibility of Israeli artillery fire, Peretz said, "Out of six shells that were fired, the landing spot of one of them is unknown." However, he added, there are great disparities between the time at which the army recording firing shells and the time the beachfront explosion occurred. IDF investigations found that the shell that hit closest to the blast site landed a full 200 to 250 meters away, and therefore could not have caused the deadly explosion. Immediately after the explosion, Palestinian gunmen, among them Hamas members, arrived on the scene even before Palestinian security forces and were seen combing the area, strengthen the theory that its members may have planted mines or explosives at the site. (Ynet News)

UPDATE: Report: Chances slim that IDF shell killed Gazans on beach (JPost)
IDF investigation shows absence of crater on beach, inconsistency between metal used in shells and shrapnel taken from bodies of wounded.