Posted on 09/23/2005 7:21:02 PM PDT by indcons
At least 15 Palestinians have been killed and scores injured in a blast during a parade by the militant Hamas group in the Gaza Strip.
A truck carrying gunmen and home-made weapons blew up during the rally in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza.
Israel has denied involvement, while the ruling Palestinian Fatah faction said it held Hamas responsible.
It is the deadliest incident in Gaza since Israel pulled its troops and settlers out earlier this month.
Hours earlier, Palestinians fired rockets into Israel from Gaza after Israel killed three militants in a raid in the West Bank town of Tulkarm.
The rockets did not cause any casualties.
People in pieces
Palestinian witnesses said a crowd, including many children, swarmed round the truck moments before the explosion.
Video filmed during the rally showed a large cloud of white smoke rising into the sky, as hundreds of people ran from the scene of the blast.
The pictures also showed several badly injured bodies on the ground.
An unnamed witness was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying "I was thrown several metres, then I looked behind and I saw people dismembered and lying on the ground dead."
The Associated Press news agency quoted another man, who gave his name as Hussam, as saying he helped pull three men out of the truck, two dead and one alive but with a severed leg.
Hamas accused Israel of causing the blast and vowed revenge.
However Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction said it held Hamas "fully responsible for the victims of the military parade [that was held] among civilians".
Israel has denied any involvement in the blast.
Earlier, Islamic jihad militants fired a volley of rockets into Israel in what they said was retaliation after Israel killed three militants in Tulkarm.
Israel said the militants were killed after opening fire on troops who were trying to arrest them.
The BBC's James Reynolds in Jerusalem says the latest incidents are a sign of high tension in the Gaza Strip even after the Israeli withdrawal.
Not funny.
You are correct... it isn't funny.... it's poetic justice
There'll be more of it anyway. It is their nature.
What do you mean by "not funny?" Hamas was parading their bombs, which would have been detonated in an Israeli schoolbus or hospital. Instead, the bomb explodes among their wn supporters (who would have cheered the killing of innocent Israeli civilians). What's up with you?
Yes, it's not funny. This is more of a tragedy than a comedy, when little kids get blown up by bombs made by stupid adults.
May they have such a parade everyday.
Eat your own. Bump.
Now maybe they'll realize how Israeli parents feel who have had their children blown up by Palestinian terrorists.
Exactly. The adults, well, they should know better, but the kids...that's not funny.
You see, this is why they need OSHA.
Good point, but these people never seem to learn from anything.
LOL.....best reply on the thread so far.
You know... I know this is going to offend people, but about the little kids.... those kids were already brainwashed to hate. In 5 or 6 years, they'd be ready to strap on a bomb and do it themselves.
Not funny. Just wish it would happen more often to the scumbags
Very funny!
Reap what you sow. Weapons, explosives and morons are a bad mix.....
There will only be peace once the so-called Palestinians decide that they love their children more than they hate the Jews.
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