Israel Used 'Banned
Weapon' In Gaza
Independent Online
South Africa
11-20-3
JERUSALEM -- An Arab Israeli lawmaker on Wednesday accused the Israeli
military of using a "banned weapon" in a deadly raid in the Gaza Strip
in October, as another deputy threatened to reveal confidential
information on the attack.
Opposition MP Ahmad al-Tibi said the army had used a "secret banned
weapon" in the raid and accused it of employing military censorship to
stop the publication of details related to the issue.
"This concerns banned munitions whose explosion had an impact that
extended over several dozen metres," he said in a statement.
Twelve Palestinians, including two wanted activists, were killed in
the Israeli raid on October 20, which targeted a car in the Gaza Strip
refugee camp of Nusseirat.
"Air Force commander Dan Halutz lied in public when he said after the
raid that the Air Force used Hellfire missiles that were fired by
Apache helicopters. It was not Apaches that launched the banned
weapon," he charged.
Meanwhile fellow member of parliament Yossi Sarid, of the left-wing
Meretz party, threatened to unveil "confidential information" over the
Nusseirat raid.
Sarid made his threat after Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz refused to
tell him the type weapons used in the raid, during a meeting of
parliament's defence and foreign affairs committee, according to the
Haaretz daily.
According to Sarid, the army used "powerful munitions with an
unusually large range of impact".
Israeli public radio said the army had admitted that arms other than
Hellfire missiles had been used in the Nusseirat attack.
According to public radio, the army is now admitting that it used
munition in the raid other than the Hellfire missile.
In a statement an army spokesperson said that it was "not possible for
operational and security reasons to provide all the details of what
went on at Nusseirat.
"The version of the facts which we have given was exact.. but it could
be, because of the sensitive nature of the operation, that we were
mistaken in the manner in which we chose to describe the methods used
in this operation," the spokesperson continued.
"It is above all important to stress that there was never any wish to
misinform the media."
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