They just seem to keep coming and coming...
The Palestinians noted that the vehicle was marked with Reuters' logo and the word "press," but it is unclear how the Israelis were supposed to see those markings in the middle of the night.
So the attack could well have happened as described. However, given the many phony claims about Israeli attacks that have been uncovered in recent weeks, there is no reason to accord any credibility to Reuters' Palestinian stringers.
Note to journalist organizations: Do NOT just jump to the defense of your employees/contractors, without checking all the facts first...and then consult an expert:
A missile explosion, either on the van or inside, would have destroyed the vehicle (remember the photos of car swarms after other Israeli missile attacks? The cars are demolished). Anyone inside would have been shredded to bits in seconds. The antipersonnel version of the Hellfire has an 8.5lb warhead, and a blast kill radius of 10 meters - 30 feet. Any strike against a car like the Reuters van would have shown blast marks (not present), secondary penetrations from shrapnel, windows and doors blown off, and shredded upholstery scattered up to 5 meters (15 feet) away.
Lies and damn lies at that.
Posted by: Stevo in Taichung | August 28, 2006 at 12:19 AM