Palestinian Arabs lie about teenager death (updated x2)

Ma'an reports:

Israeli airstrikes killed two Islamic Jihad militants and a 15-year-old boy on Monday, bringing the death toll since Friday to 21 people.

Nayif Shaaban Qarmout, 15, was killed in Beit Lahiya, north Gaza, Ma'an's correspondent said.

Witnesses said that the 15-year-old was playing with friends in a play ground near his school when an Israeli missile hit the area.

But AFP reports:

The Israeli army on Monday denied it had carried out an air strike on northern Gaza which killed a teenager, with an AFP correspondent confirming there was no sign of an air raid.

Fifteen-year-old Nayef Qarmut was killed and six other teenagers injured as they were on their way to school near the northern town of Beit Lahiya, with a spokesman for the Palestinian medical services blaming an Israeli drone strike.

"A drone strike hit a group of students who were walking by empty land on their way to school," said spokesman Adham Abu Selmiya, describing an incident which occurred at around 9:30am (0730 GMT).

But the Israeli military, after looking into the claim, denied it had conducted any air strikes in northern Gaza then, saying the last time it had struck the area was in the early hours of Monday.

"From an initial check, there were no air strikes in the northern Gaza Strip since the early hours of the morning," a military spokesman told AFP.

According to an AFP correspondent at the scene, there were no signs of any impact on the ground which could have been caused by a missile, with the most likely cause of his death being some kind of explosive device he was carrying.

The victim lost his legs in the blast and his body was covered with shrapnel wounds, he said.

Six other school children were injured, two of whom were in critical condition, while four sustained moderate wounds, medics said.

Once again, when both sides make contradictory claims, and the facts are checked out, it is found that that the Palestinian Arabs lie, repeatedly.

Yet many journalists, and especially "advocacy journalists," will unquestioningly believe any statements given out by Palestinian Arab officials and supposed "eyewitnesses."

UPDATE: PCHR also mindlessly repeats the lie, showing that it does not investigate allegations the way it pretends to.

UPDATE 2: Challah Hu Akbar found photos of the scene, and it sure doesn't look like an airstrike. Yet it is still being considered as such by Western media who are counting this death as one that was from Israel.



(h/t T34)