Israeli Air Strike Did NOT Kill 23 Children

Hat tip: Israel Matzav

On the one hand we have the Reuters report, which indicates a number of countries rushing to condemn Israel:

Israeli air strike kills 23 children

AN Israeli air strike has killed at least 51 Lebanese civilians, including 23 children. The raid prompted the Lebanese Government to cancel a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

In the bloodiest single attack in Israel's 19-day-old war on Hezbollah, houses collapsed and a three-storey building was destroyed in the southern village of Qana yesterday.

The bodies of 23 children were among those recovered from under the rubble of dozens of buildings.

Terrified mothers embraced the bodies of their dead children, still wearing the pyjamas they had gone to sleep in.

The bodies were covered in dust.

With the expected condemnations from--

Lebanon:

Lebanon told the US it could not meet with Dr Rice until a ceasefire ended Israel's offensive.

"There is no place on this sad morning for any discussion other than an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, as well as an international investigation into the Israeli massacres in Lebanon now," Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said.

"The persistence of Israel in its heinous crimes against our civilians will not break the will of the Lebanese people."

Mr Siniora denounced the attackers as "Israeli war criminals".

Jordan:

Jordan's King Abdullah also urged an immediate ceasefire, saying the latest Israeli air strike was an "ugly crime".

The monarch labelled it a "gross violation of all international statutes".

France:

French President Jacques Chirac also condemned the plane attack, which he called an "unjustifiable action".

Great Britain:

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has described the raid as "quite appalling".

"It's absolutely dreadful," she said.

"Undoubtedly today's events will make things worse, at least in the short term. We have repeatedly urged Israel to act proportionately."

All of which drowns out Israel's response:

Israel's military said it had warned residents to leave and said Hezbollah bore responsibility for the attack by using the village to fire rockets at the Jewish state.

But what really happened? According to YNet News:

IDF: Qana building fell hours after strike

IDF continuing to check difficult incident at Qana village, and attempting to account for strange gap between time of the strike on the building – midnight – and eight in the morning, when the building collapsed
Hanan Greenberg

An IDF investigation has found that the building in Qana struck by the Air Force fell around eight hours after being hit by the IDF.

"The attack on the structure in the Qana village took place between midnight and one in the morning. The gap between the timing of the collapse of the building and the time of the strike on it is unclear," Brigadier General Amir Eshel, Head of the Air Force Headquarters told journalists at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, following the incidents at Qana.

Eshel and the head of the IDF's Operational Branch, Major General Gadi Eisnkot said the structure was not being attacked when it collapsed, at around 8:00 in the morning.

The IDF believes that Hizbullah explosives in the building were behind the explosion that caused the collapse.

Another possibility is that the rickety building remained standing for a few hours, but eventually collapsed. "It could be that inside the building, things that could eventually cause an explosion were being housed, things that we could not blow up in the attack, and maybe remained there, Brigadier General Eshel said.

"I'm saying this very carefully, because at this time I don't have a clue as to what the explanation could be for this gap," he added.

Brigadier General Eshel need not apologize for not having a clue.
Obviously, neither do
Lebanon,
Jordan,
France,
or Great Britain.

But of course that didn't stop them.

[You Tube has a video about Hizbollah's use of citizen's in Qana]

Update:
It is now being reported that Israel is agreeing to a 48 hour cease-fire while the incident is being looked into.
So what happened to the reporting about the 8-hour delay?

More Inconsistencies! See More Questions On The Building Collapse In Qana

Technorati Tag: Israel and Lebanon and Qana and Hizbollah and Hezbollah and Terrorism.