The IDF has completed a comprehensive inquiry showing with certainty that, contrary to PA claims, the 21 buildings destroyed in Rafiach earlier this month were uninhabited. Southern Region Commander Maj.-Gen. Doron Almog, who headed the investigation, said today that about half of the structures did not even have roofs, and that ongoing observations of the buildings showed that no one had lived there for the past several months. It was acknowledged, however, that the original plan was to raze less than 21 buildings, but a navigating and identification error led to the destruction of more buildings.
\"The military necessity for the action was plain and apparent,\" Gen. Almog said, \"because of the continuous attempts to smuggle arms from Egypt into Gaza via the underground tunnels underneath the buildings.\" Almog reminded his listeners that the army\'s Tarmit Outpost, which is just a few hundred meters away from the demolished houses, is under constant attack, \"and this action significantly helps us to deal with these threats. Just four months ago, only hours before a Peres-Arafat meeting elsewhere in Gaza, a group of terrorists tunneled underground to the Tarmit Outpost with 150 kilograms of explosives…\" Three soldiers were wounded in that incident. \"The Palestinians say that the tractors surprised them in their beds at 2 AM,\" concluded Gen. Almog. \"If it\'s true that the homes were inhabited, as the Palestinians claim so vehemently, then how is it that not one baby was left behind and not one chicken or anything else was accidentally killed [or hurt]?\"
\"The military necessity for the action was plain and apparent,\" Gen. Almog said, \"because of the continuous attempts to smuggle arms from Egypt into Gaza via the underground tunnels underneath the buildings.\" Almog reminded his listeners that the army\'s Tarmit Outpost, which is just a few hundred meters away from the demolished houses, is under constant attack, \"and this action significantly helps us to deal with these threats. Just four months ago, only hours before a Peres-Arafat meeting elsewhere in Gaza, a group of terrorists tunneled underground to the Tarmit Outpost with 150 kilograms of explosives…\" Three soldiers were wounded in that incident. \"The Palestinians say that the tractors surprised them in their beds at 2 AM,\" concluded Gen. Almog. \"If it\'s true that the homes were inhabited, as the Palestinians claim so vehemently, then how is it that not one baby was left behind and not one chicken or anything else was accidentally killed [or hurt]?\"