بتسيلم – عاهد وزكريا واسماعيل ومحمد بكر
בצלם – ע”ד, זכריה, איסמעיל ומוחמד בכר
THE B’TSELEM FALSE NARRATIVE:
(taken from the B’Tselem webpage)
‘Ahed ‘Attaf ‘Ahed Baker
9 years old, resident of a-Shati’ Camp, Gaza District, killed on 16 Jul 2014 in Gaza city, by gunfire. Did not participate in hostilities. Additional information: Killed along with three friends in an air and naval strike while playing on the beach with another boy.
Isma’il Muhammad Subhi Baker
9 years old, resident of a-Shati’ Camp, Gaza District, killed on 16 Jul 2014 in Gaza city, by gunfire. Did not participate in hostilities. Additional information: Killed along with three friends in an air and naval strike while playing on the beach with another boy.
Zakaria ‘Ahed Subhi Baker
10 years old, resident of a-Shati’ Camp, Gaza District, killed on 16 Jul 2014 in Gaza city, by gunfire. Did not participate in hostilities. Additional information: Killed along with three friends in an air and naval strike while playing on the beach with another boy.
Muhammad Ramez ‘Izzat Baker
11 years old, resident of a-Shati’ Camp, Gaza District, killed on 16 Jul 2014 in Gaza city, by gunfire. Did not participate in hostilities. Additional information: Killed along with three friends in an air and naval strike while playing on the beach with another boy.
THE FALSE NARRATIVE
“… killed … by gunfire….”
“Killed along with three friends in an air and naval strike….”
“Killed … while playing on the beach with another boy.”
THE FACTUAL NARRATIVE:
1- There was no naval strike. They were not killed by gunfire. The boys were killed by two missiles fired by a Hermes 450 UAV.
2- The Bakr cousins were not killed while playing on the beach with another boy. They were not playing and they were not “on the beach”.
The incident took place in an area that had long been known to the residents of the Gaza Strip as a compound belonging to Hamas’ Naval Police and Naval Force (al-Qassam Brigades naval commandos), and which was utilized exclusively by terror operatives. It was closed off by a fence and clearly separated from the beach serving the civilian population.
Aerial surveillance identified a number of figures entering the compound at a running pace. They were believed to be Hamas terror operatives. These figures entered a shed adjoining a container which had been attacked the previous day. At the time of the attack, it was not possible to have identified the figures, via aerial surveillance, as children.
When one of the figures entered the remains of the container, one missile was fired towards the container and the adjoining shed, hitting him. The rest of the figures began to run in the direction of the compound’s exit. Before they exited the compound, a second missile was fired which hit the figures after they had exited the compound.
Tragically, it became known that the victims of the attack were not Hamas operatives as believed but four children. What remains unclear, is the reason the four boys entered the Hamas military compound.
MILITARY ADVOCATE GENERAL
The Military Advocate General (MAG Corps’) (Hebrew: הפרקליטות הצבאית, HaParklitut HaTzva’it) is responsible for implementing the rule of law within the Israel Defense Forces. The unit’s objectives include integrating the rule of law amongst IDF commanders and soldiers;⁸ providing commanders with the tools for the effective performance of their missions in accordance with the law; and working with the IDF achieve its goals on all legal fronts. The MAG Corps’, most noteworthly, has the ability to provide legal advice in emergencies and during warfare.[1]
For more about the MAG Corps, click HERE (Use Back Arrow to Return)
FFA MECHANISM
A General Staff Mechanism for Fact-Finding Assessments (the ‘FFA Mechanism’) examines Exceptional Incidents that occurred during Operation ‘Protective Edge’. The FFA Mechanism, headed by a Major General, was activated soon after the commencement of Operation ‘Protective Edge’, in the midst of the ongoing hostilities.
To read more about the FFA Mechanism, click HERE (Use Back Arrow to Return)
Decisions of the IDF MAG Military Advocate General Regarding Exceptional Incidents that Occurred During Operation ‘Protective Edge’ –
Allegations Concerning the Death of Four Children on the Gaza Strip Coast (16 July 2014) –
From the factual findings collected by MPCID investigators, it arose that the incident took place in an area that had long been known as a compound belonging to Hamas’s Naval Police and Naval Force (naval commandos), and which was utilized exclusively by militants. The compound in question spans the length of the breakwater of the Gaza City seashore, closed off by a fence and clearly separated from the beach serving the civilian population. It further arose in the course of the investigation (including from the affidavits provided to the MPCID by Palestinian witnesses), that the compound was known to the residents of the Gaza Strip as a compound which was used exclusively by Hamas’s Naval Police. The IDF carried out a number of attacks on the compound in the days prior to the incident. In the course of one such attack, which took place on the day prior to the incident (15 July 2014), a container located inside the compound, which was used to store military supplies, was attacked.
Shortly before the incident, an intelligence assessment was established which indicated that operatives from Hamas’s Naval Forces would gather in the military compound in order to prepare for military activity against the IDF. On 16 July, aerial surveillance identified a number of figures entering the compound at a running pace. These figures entered a shed adjoining the container which had been attacked the day prior. Against the backdrop of the aforementioned intelligence assessment, these were believed to be militants from Hamas’s Naval Forces, who had arrived at the compound in order to prepare to execute the aforementioned military activity against the IDF. It should be stressed that the figures were not identified at any point during the incident, as children.
In light of the above, it was decided to conduct an aerial attack against the figures which had been identified, after all the necessary authorizations for an attack had been obtained, and after a civilian presence in the area had been ruled out. When one of the identified figures entered into the remains of the container which had been attacked on the day prior to the incident, one missile was fired from the air towards the container and the adjoining shed. As a result of this attack, it appeared that one of the figures identified was hit. Following this attack, the rest of the figures began to run in the direction of the compound’s exit. Shortly before their exit from the compound, an additional missile was fired from the air towards them, which hit the figures in question after they had exited the compound. Tragically, in the wake of the incident it became clear that the outcome of the attack was the death of four children, who had entered the military compound for reasons that remain unclear. It further arose from the investigation that, under the circumstances in question, it would not have been possible for the operational entities involved to have identified these figures, via aerial surveillance, as children.
Read Ahed, Zakaria, Ismail & Muhammad Baker’s complete narrative by clicking HERE