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Writing about the July 16 attack on Bethlehem by Israeli helicopter gunships, GBGM missionary in Jerusalem Sandra Olewine points out:

This attack came in a heavily populated part of Bethlehem, little more than 400 meters downhill from the Church of the Nativity. As usual, the Israeli government explained that they were 'liquidating' men who were planning a major Hamas 'terrorist' attack in Jerusaslem in the coming days. Although every major government in the world, even the often silent US, has called on Israel to halt these political assassinations, Israel has announced it will increase these types of 'security actions.'

One of the things which rarely happens following one of these killings is questions about Israel's labeling of the target as terrorists. No evidence has ever been made public about any of the nearly 40 people the State of Israel has assassinated since the beginning of the Intifada. Many news agencies take their information from the official Israeli report and may do little to follow up. So, I suspect that often people in the world shrug their shoulders and say, "Oh well, just another terrorist . . .."

This time, while two of the men were members of [the militant Palestinian group] Hamas, although no proof that they were actually planning attacks has yet been offered, two were not. And, besides the men targeted, at least 10 bystanders were wounded, including a 10-year old girl who lost an arm.

Because the rocket attack was close to the home of a friend, I called to make sure the family was safe. They were, I was told, but one of the men killed was a teacher in their son's school, Terra Sancta, which is run by the Latin Catholic Patriarchate in Bethlehem.

Gershon Baskin, the Israeli co-director of the Israeli-Palestinian Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) wrote this account about Isaac Saada, one of the men killed in the attack.

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