For a change, here’s some responsible journalism from Reuters. Despite what the locals say about the siege of the Beit Hanoun’s al-Nasser mosque, reporter Luke Baker keeps focused on the fact that the gunmen themselves were responsible for the mosque’s destruction:
The army decided that since the mosque was being used for military purposes it was no longer protected under the rules of conflict. Commanders sent in armoured bulldozers to knock down its ancient walls, which dated to the 13th century….
Asked whether gunmen had used the shrine for protection as they fought Israeli troops, Kafarneh and his friends sitting on plastic chairs around him are quiet and then dismissive.
“There were gunmen, yes. But they weren’t inside the mosque. They were nearby, in the buildings. Look, the buildings and the mosque are all together here,” said one as the others nodded.
On the day of the stand-off, Hamas, the Islamic militant group that runs the Palestinian government, said itself that dozens of its gunmen were holed up inside…..
Very few are willing to link the actions of the militants to the destruction of the building, even though it’s very unlikely it would have been targeted if gunmen weren’t hiding inside.
