Palestinian military expert: Israel is "undoubtedly keeping its losses secret" in Gaza war
“It was nearly 8 a.m. and Jamal Atoun, 40, was about to take the first bite of his breakfast. Before the morsel [could] reach his mouth, he felt as if the house had been struck by an earthquake, and rushed, without thinking, to check on his children. Standing on the top floor of his house in Beit Sahour, which was partially destroyed by a rocket [launched from the Gaza Strip], Atoun recalled the initial moments of the event which turned his home into a destination for hundreds of citizens from the Bethlehem district and other districts, who came to see what had happened five minutes before the ceasefire went into effect. Atoun, who still seemed to be in a state of shock, said: ‘I didn’t hear anything; all I felt was what the rocket had caused’ – thereby referring to the destruction the explosion had caused to the mosque and neighboring houses...The settlement of Har Homa, erected on the Abu Ghneim hill, is clearly visible from the top [floor] of Atoun’s house, and one can assume that the rocket was meant for that settlement…
[Military expert Yusuf] Al-Sharqawi, who accompanied our correspondent, conducted an initial inspection of the site of the explosion in Atoun’s home, and of the direction in which the supposed rocket fell. He said, ‘Apparently, what happened is that the Israeli Iron Dome [missile defense system] intercepted a [Palestinian] resistance rocket fired toward the Har Homa settlement, and this is what caused the explosion in the home.’...
According to Al-Sharqawi, the destruction caused by the explosion, which resulted from the interception of a resistance rocket by the Iron Dome [system], was slight compared to [the damage] that would have been caused by the fall of an un-intercepted rocket. He said: ‘Usually, a rocket of this kind causes great damage, which is indeed what the resistance’s rockets have caused in the places they have fallen. The occupation is undoubtedly keeping its losses secret.’ He added: ‘There is no doubt that the damage caused by these rockets was one of the reasons the occupation state sought a way out of its aggression against Gaza.’”
[Military expert Yusuf] Al-Sharqawi, who accompanied our correspondent, conducted an initial inspection of the site of the explosion in Atoun’s home, and of the direction in which the supposed rocket fell. He said, ‘Apparently, what happened is that the Israeli Iron Dome [missile defense system] intercepted a [Palestinian] resistance rocket fired toward the Har Homa settlement, and this is what caused the explosion in the home.’...
According to Al-Sharqawi, the destruction caused by the explosion, which resulted from the interception of a resistance rocket by the Iron Dome [system], was slight compared to [the damage] that would have been caused by the fall of an un-intercepted rocket. He said: ‘Usually, a rocket of this kind causes great damage, which is indeed what the resistance’s rockets have caused in the places they have fallen. The occupation is undoubtedly keeping its losses secret.’ He added: ‘There is no doubt that the damage caused by these rockets was one of the reasons the occupation state sought a way out of its aggression against Gaza.’”