Israel Says It Didn't Cause Deadly Blast

An injured girl is carried into the hospital in the nothern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya, in this June 9, 2006 file photo. An Israeli investigation into what caused an explosion on a Gaza beach that killed eight Palestinians will conclude that the blast was most likely caused by a mine planted by Hamas militants against Israeli naval commandos and not an Israeli shell, military officials said Tuesday, June 13, 2006.(AP Photo/Hatem Moussa) (Hatem Moussa - AP)

Showing aerial photographs and film, the head of the Israeli inquiry, Maj. Gen. Meir Klifi, declared: "There is no chance that a shell hit this area. Absolutely no chance."

Israel has been pounding northern Gaza with hundreds of artillery shells for weeks, trying unsuccessfully to stop Palestinian militants from setting up and launching homemade rockets at Israel.

In recent days, Israeli commando forces have entered Gaza to ambush rocket squads.

Palestinians replied that militants were unlikely to plant bombs at a beach teeming with hundreds of people every weekend.

"This is a false allegation, and the Israeli occupation state is trying to escape from shouldering its responsibility by accusing Palestinians without evidence or any proof," said Ghazi Hamad, a spokesman for the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

"The eyewitnesses and the evidence that we have confirm that the massacre is the result of Israeli shelling, and the allegation about land mines planted by Palestinians is baseless," he said.

Palestinian lawmaker Saeb Erekat, who is close to President Mahmoud Abbas, a Hamas rival, called for an international inquiry. He complained that Israel was trying to blame the Palestinians and warned, "this means that this crime could re-occur."

Klifi said the explosion took place between 4:47 p.m. and 5:10 p.m., and no Israeli shells were fired then.

The blast occurred on the outskirts of the town of Beit Lahiya, at the edge of the area where Palestinian militants frequently fire rockets toward Israel. The shore is frequented by hundreds of Palestinian beachgoers on Fridays, a rest day in Gaza.

The army has accounted for five of six of the shells that it fired in the area Friday evening before the beach explosion, Klifi said. None of them exploded nearby. The one shell that is not accounted for was fired before the five others _ more than 10 minutes before the blast that killed the Palestinians, he said.