Hamas says: Women and children get shot first

The spin on the Gaza mosque incident will probably reach fever-pitch. Expect human rights organizations and UN condemnation—of Israel, of course. Not of Hamas, for using women as human shields to protect their terrorists. Witness the AP story:

BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip (AP) – Palestinian gunmen holed up in a mosque escaped Friday as Israeli forces fired at a group of women who streamed to the scene to serve as human shields, killing two and wounding at least 10, the army and witnesses said. At least two of the escaping gunmen were disguised as veiled women.

The dead women were among 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.

That’s the background in the lead. Nowhere does it say that there were terrorists hiding among the women who approached the mosque, firing at IDF troops. Buried further down, though, you find this:

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.

By midmorning Friday, veiled protesters had gathered outside the mosque, where troops were positioned in tanks and armored personnel carriers.

“Protesters.” They are human shields, and yet they somehow have morphed into “protesters” in AP language.

As the women first approached, volleys of shots were fired toward them, sending the group rushing toward a nearby wall for cover, according to AP Television News footage. In all, nearly 60 shots were heard on the footage, but it was not clear in every case who fired.

Two women, both aged 40, were shot to death and 10 were wounded, they said.

Why were they shot? For no apparent reason?

The army said troops spotted two militants hiding in the crowd of women and opened fire, hitting the two. As the women rushed away, at least two men disguised in women’s clothes were seen in the crowd. Jubilant bystanders embraced them, celebrating their escape.

So, did they check the gender on the two who were shot? Because at this point, I don’t believe anything palestinian spokesliars say.

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.

Get the new terminology? Women protecting terrorists are not civilians joining the battlefield. They are “protesters” who are joining a “rally,” presumably to protest the IDF’s nerve in trying to capture terrorists who are shooting rockets into Israel.

The Gaza war is going to be an ugly, ugly war, and there are going to be a lot of non-soldiers who are killed. But when you put yourself in harm’s way—such as going to the scene of a pitched battle and putting yourself in front of the weapons—you can pretty much expect to be shot.

I would point out that the residents of Sderot are simply living their lives while the rockets rain down on them. They are not taking part in a battle.

Not that the media will care.