ISRAEL PHONES TARGETED BUILDINGS BEFORE AIR STRIKES

Israelis phone targeted buildings before air strikes (WorldTribune)
TEL AVIV — Israel's military has begun calling Palestinians whose homes have been targeted as terror sites in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Military sources said Israel had sent a telephone message to residents of a house destroyed in the northern Gaza Strip. The message warned the residents that their building would be the target of an air strike. "There were two phone calls just to make sure they understood what we were about to do," a source said.

The sources said the method has been used in Lebanon during the current war against Hizbullah. They said Lebanese have responded to the telephoned warnings.

Mohammed Shurafa said in an interview with a Gaza radio station that he received a call from a man who identified himself as an Israel Army representative. The caller ordered the resident to leave his house.

The military has acknowledged the story. A spokeswoman said the northern Gaza house was used as a warehouse for the Islamic Jihad.

Shurafa said he and his family complied. But a few minutes later, concluding that the call was a joke, they returned. At that point, the telephone rang again.

"He said: 'Why did you return? This is not a joke,'" Shurafa recalled.

Shurafa said he and his family fled the home. Several minutes later, the house was struck by an air-to-ground missile.