Media reports on this incident in Gaza are overwhelmingly slanted against Israel, but the facts show that this is another example of war crimes and cowardice by Palestinian terrorists, using veiled women as human shields: Israeli troops kill women in mosque siege. (Hat tip: LGF readers.)

ISRAELI troops shot and killed two Palestinian women acting as human shields between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen hiding in a Gaza mosque today, witnesses said, before the gunmen escaped.

The dramatic events came on the third day of an Israeli assault on the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, the largest operation it has conducted in the Gaza Strip in months, designed to put a stop to militants firing homemade rockets into Israel.

About 60 gunmen holed themselves up in the al-Nasir mosque yesterday. Today, about 50 veiled women, answering an appeal on local radio, marched on the mosque, acting as a cover against the Israeli troops to allow the gunmen to flee.

Television footage showed Israeli forces opening fire and two of the women were killed. At least 10 were wounded.

The Israeli army said it had fired at armed Palestinians and said it was investigating whether it had also shot the women. A spokeswoman said the army had footage showing armed men mingling among the women, which the army described as human shields.

UPDATE at 11/3/06 9:05:17 am:

Daniel Freedman has it right: Worse Than Human Shields, They’re Terrorist Helpers.

Those women were not innocent bystanders nor human shields caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Human shields implies that they were reluctanly dragged in. They were willing terrorist helpers. They ran to protect terrorists in order that these terrorists could commit more killings. Those women are no different to those who help transport terrorists or those who hide terrorists in their home. They’re responsible for any death and destruction the terrorists cause.

That the terrorists were willing to disguise themselves as women to escape, knowing full well if Israeli troops spotted them all the women would be endagered, shows just how much the terrorists care about their “civilians.”

UPDATE at 11/3/06 11:41:10 am:

Snapped Shot has the MSM photo album of this incident: Distorting Context through Photography.