The Israeli army fired a tank shell at three young Palestinian cousins, thinking they were rocketeers. Dr. Moaiya Hassanain confirmed tha a 10-year-old Mahmoud Ghazal and his 12-year-old cousin Yehiya Ghazal were killed, and their 10-year-old cousin Sara Ghazal was critically injured. She later died in the hospital, officials said.
 
In a statement, the Israeli military said it "wishes to express sorrow" for the "use of teenagers in terror attacks." In the past the military has accused militants of sending children to pick up their rocket launchers, but it did not explicitly say the three dead children in Wednesday's incident were directly involved. An Israeli tank shell exploded west of Beit Hanoun, witnesses said.

 

8/29/07