Calling Ahead to Terror Targets?

The World Tribune reports that the IDF at least sometimes calls the occupants of buildings that are the targets of air strikes, warning them to leave.

Mohammed Shurafa said in an interview with a Gaza radio station that he received a call from a man who identified himself as an Israel Army representative. The caller ordered the resident to leave his house.

The military has acknowledged the story. A spokeswoman said the northern Gaza house was used as a warehouse for the Islamic Jihad.

Shurafa said he and his family complied. But a few minutes later, concluding that the call was a joke, they returned. At that point, the telephone rang again.

"He said: 'Why did you return? This is not a joke,'" Shurafa recalled.

Shurafa said he and his family fled the home. Several minutes later, the house was struck by an air-to-ground missile.