Five Palestinian children on their way to school were killed on Thursday when an IDF booby trap exploded under them. They were members of the al-Astal family - Muhammad Naim, Akram Naim, Anis Idris, Omar Idris, and Muhammad Sultan - two sets of brothers and a cousin, residents of the Khan Yunis refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. The explosive apparently was a bomb placed on what the army suspected to be a path routinely used by Palestinian activists - not, as was first reported, an unspent tank shell accidentally left behind.
Placing booby traps in populated areas or on routes that children and innocent civilians are likely to use cannot have any other result - any more than can firing from tanks in these areas. Earlier in the week, a Palestinian woman and her two children were injured by tank fire near the site where the five boys were killed.
The expression of regret voiced by Defense Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer over the killing of the innocent children can not be a substitute for a vital change in the IDF's concept of what fighting tactics are acceptable in the territories. These methods have already caused a high number of deaths among innocent children and civilians during the year of intifada. The latest incident in Khan Yunis did not arise from a mistake or from negligence, but is derived from an outlook that says harming innocents during attacks on enemies is simply unavoidable. Only a broad and diligent investigation of the tragic circumstances here - without any more whitewashing or dodging of facts - plus the trial of those responsible, might bring about a change in this outlook. It will at least suggest that in addition to the defense minister's expressions of regret, something concrete is actually been done about it.
The hideous death of the young children in Khan Yunis and the killing of Mahmud Abu Hanoud, a leader of the Hamas military wing and his two associates, have come close to the arrival in the region of the American administration's special envoy. It is of course possible - as is customary - to see the visit of the Secretary of State's special envoy, General Anthony Zinni, as yet another doomed attempt to bring a cease-fire and calm to the region. Such an outlook will undoubtedly guarantee a prolongation of the terrorist attacks, the killings, and the deaths of more children and innocent civilians on both sides.
It is also possible to restart the haggling over the question of blame, and over which side failed to stick to the conditions of the agreement, and attempt to maneuver the new envoy into shrugging away while continuing to score petty points against the other side. But it would be better to choose another way - one that will convert Zinni's mission into a turning point from which the diplomatic process can surge forward along the path carved out by the Mitchell Report. Such a change can occur only if, in parallel with Israeli demands for a complete Palestinian cease-fire, Israel comes up with a political option and some genuine steps as an expression of the vision proposed by Colin Powell in his Kentucky speech. The expectation that terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11 would bring about a sobering of the Palestinians and the Israelis has so far remained unfulfilled. This is indeed the time to sober up
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
