Israelis Shoot Women Shielding Hamas Gunmen

From those lovers of "freedom fighters" at the Associated Press:

A wounded Palestinian woman lies on the ground as others run for cover after an Israeli tank opened fire at them at Beit Hanoun town in northern Gaza strip November 3, 2006..

Israeli Troops Fire on Women Shielding Militants, Killing One

Friday, November 03, 2006

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli forces fired Friday at a group of women who streamed to a Gaza mosque to serve as human shields for gunmen holed up there, killing one and wounding 10, Palestinian officials and witnesses said.

The Israeli army said troops spotted two militants hiding in the crowd of women and opened fire, hitting the two.

The dead woman was one of several hundred who had heeded a call by Hamas militants to ring the mosque in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun. Their presence allowed the gunmen inside to escape, some reportedly wearing robes supplied by the women, ending their 19-hour standoff with soldiers parked outside in tanks and armored personnel carriers.

Troops seized Beit Hanoun on Wednesday in their fiercest bid in months to halt Palestinian rocket fire on nearby Israeli communities. More than 20 Palestinians, most gunmen, have been killed since the offensive began, including a 22-year-old man killed Friday.

The mosque became the focus of the fighting in the town after dozens of gunmen sought refuge from troops there Thursday. Most were thought to belong to the military wing of the ruling Hamas party.

Armored vehicles quickly surrounded the building, and the two sides began exchanging fire that lasted throughout the night, the military and Palestinian security officials said.

Israeli soldiers trying to pressure the gunmen to surrender also threw stun and smoke grenades, and knocked down an outer wall of the mosque with a bulldozer, causing the ceiling to collapse.

With sporadic shooting persisting Friday morning, Hamas radio broadcast a call to women to go to Beit Hanoun to shield the militants. Dozens of women left their homes to a hurry to the mosque, and en route, came under Israeli fire, witnesses and officials said.

One woman, about 40, was shot and killed, and 10 others were wounded, they said.

By midmorning Friday, veiled women protesters had gathered outside the mosque, where troops were positioned in tanks and armored personnel carriers. The army said the gunmen in the mosque took advantage of the demonstration to escape because there were not enough soldiers to block the protesters from approaching the building, and troops did not want to shoot into the crowd.

But live ammunition was fired in the course of the demonstration, wounding a Palestinian cameraman and an unidentified woman.

Loudspeakers across Gaza called on people to come to demonstrations after Friday prayers to express solidarity with Beit Hanoun. By late morning, two rallies were already in progress in Beit Hanoun, and militants in the crowds were firing at soldiers, the army said.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas "saluted the women of Palestine … who led the protest to break the siege of Beit Hanoun." Haniyeh urged U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to witness firsthand "the massacres of the Palestinian people," and appealed to the Arab world to "stop the ongoing bloodshed."

A spokesman for Hamas militants said 32 gunmen who had taken cover in the mosque escaped with the help of the women. The spokesman, Abu Obeida, denied reports that the men disguised themselves as women to escape, but one woman said she handed women's clothing to some of the gunmen.

Dozens of protesters took sanctuary in a U.N. school in Beit Hanoun, fearing retribution by troops, said Imad Okal, an official with the U.N. Relief and Works Agency…

Here is the AP’s sister outlet Al Jazeera's treatment of the same story:

A woman reacts after two Palestinian women acting as human shields were killed in northern Gaza strip November 3, 2006. Israeli troops shot and killed two Palestinian women acting as human shields between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen during a clash at a Gaza mosque on Friday, witnesses said, before the gunmen escaped.

Israel kills women at mosque siege

Friday 03 November 2006, 15:40 Makka Time, 12:40 GMT

Two Palestinian women have been killed during a stand-off near a Gaza mosque while they were trying to rescue about 60 Palestinian men besieged inside.

The dramatic events came on the third day of an Israeli assault on the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, the largest operation Israel has conducted in the Gaza Strip in months.

On Friday, about 200 Palestinian women marched towards the al-Nasir mosque in the town of Beit Hanoun, which Israeli forces surrounded on Thursday, in a attempt to rescue the men.

Israeli forces opened fire towards the women and two of them were killed. Six others were wounded.

Um Muhammad, a woman in her 40s, said after the rescue attempt: "We risked our lives to free our sons."

With Friday's shootings, at least 22 Palestinians have been killed since Israeli troops entered Beit Hanoun on Wednesday.

The Israeli army later confirmed that the Palestinian men had escaped from the mosque.

Shortly after they fled, the roof of the building, one of the oldest in Gaza according to locals, collapsed, witnesses and the Israeli army said.

The Palestinian prime minister said the raids were terrorism. The minaret was left standing, but most of the building was reduced to rubble…

Let’s review.

A bunch of Palestinian terrorists are seen to be firing rockets across the border into Israel. Israeli troops go after them, and they hole up in a mosque.

The Israelis lay siege to the mosque — because it is such a holy place they dare not attack it.  Meanwhile, the terrorists call for women to come and surround the mosque as human shields.

The terrorists then dress up as women and escape. The Israelis spot two of the terrorists escaping in the crowd of women and shoot at them, accidentally hitting some of the women and killing one.

And the terrorist media expect us to be outraged at the Israelis.

This is the Muslim way of fighting in a nutshell.