'Cry to those Using Babies as Shields'

Paramedics carry the body of Lebanese man from under a demolished building
that was struck by IAF missiles in the village of Qana. (Photo: AP)

From Israel Matzav:

The IAF targeted rocket launching sites in the Lebanese town of Qana this morning with deadly results. A three-story building hit by IAF missiles collapsed, several houses that were used to launch Katyusha rockets were destroyed, and depending upon which estimate you believe, as many as sixty people may have been killed.

Nearly half the victims were reported to be children whose parents decided to place them in the line of fire after they were warned to evacuate due to the impending strike on the Katyusha launchers.

...a Lebanese blog post... says that Hezbullah is not allowing people to be rescued from at least one of the collapsed buildings:

To Israelis: Before believing your IDF's bullshit about Hezbollah hiding in that building, try just for a minute to imagine yourself stuck under a ton of rubbles, alive, but not being able to move because the beasts next door refuse to allow cranes to come and remove the rubbles. I’m sure you’d rather die a much quicker death!

Novelist Naomi Ragen in an incandescent ripost to world condemnation of Israel over the civilian deaths:

My son is in the army. He is nt the type at all, believe me. Quiet, studious, a writer, a lover of Jewish history, Talmud, ethics. He spent two years in a pre-army program in the Galilee called Karmei Chayil. He made many good friends there from all over the country, and now he and all his friends are in the army.

One of them I know well. A bit chubby, with payot, and a great laugh. He and my son have become like brothers. While both of them tried out for the elite paratroopers unit, only he made it in. He and his unit are the ones in Lebanon. They were there over a week, fighting under horrific conditions, running out of food and water. Even though the Israeli airforce dropped tons of leaflets warning civilians to flee because they were in terrorist territory and likely to be injured, they still encountered civilians. My son spoke to his friend yesterday,and this is how he described it:

"The village looked empty, and then we heard noises coming
from one of the houses, so we opened fire. But when we
went inside, we found two women and a child huddled in the
corner of the room. We were so relieved we hadn't hurt
them.

We took up base in one of the empty houses. And then
all of a sudden, we came under intense fire. Three rockets
were fired at the house we were in. Only one managed to
destroy a wall, which fell on one of us, covering him in
white dust, but otherwise not hurting him. I spent the
whole time feeding bullets to my friend who was shooting
non-stop. We managed to killed 26 terrorists. Not one of
us was hurt. Our commanding officer kept walking around,
touching everybody on the shoulder, smiling and encouraging
us: "We're are better than they are. Don't worry." It
calmed us all down.

And really, we were much better then them. They are a lousy army. They only win when they hidebehind baby carriages."

Please remember this when you hear about the "atrocity" of
the Israeli bomb dropped on Kfar Cana, killing many
civilians, a place from which Hezbollah has fired hundreds
of rockets at Israel. Unlike previous administrations, Mr.
Olmert has my respect when he says: "They were warned to
leave. It is the responsibility of Hezbollah for firing
rockets amidst civilians."

Terrorists and their supporters have lost the right to
complain about civilian casualties, since all they have done
this entire war is target civilians. Every single one of the
more than 2,500 rockets launched into Israel, is launched
into populated towns filled with women and children. Just
today, another suicide belt meant to kill civilians in
Israel was detonated harmlessly by our forces in Nablus. So
don't cry to me about civilian casualties. Cry to those
using your babies and wives and mothers; cry to those who
store weapons in mosques, ambulances, hospitals, and private
homes. Cry to those launching deadly rockets from the
backyards of your kindergartens and schools. Cry to the
heartless men who love death, and however many of their
troops or civilians die, consider themselves victorious as
long as they can keep on firing rockets at our women and
children.

Save your sympathy for the mothers and sisters and
girlfriends of our young soldiers who would rather be
sitting in study halls learning Torah, but have no choice
but to risk their precious lives full of hope, goodness and
endless potential, to wipe out the cancerous terrorist cells
that threaten their people and all mankind. Make your
choice, and save your tears.

That terrorists have been unsuccessful in killing more of
our women and children is due to our army, God and prayers,
not to any lack of motivation or intention on their part.
If you hide behind your baby to shoot at my baby, you are
responsible for getting children killed.

You and you alone.