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In Depth:
'Hamas Exploitation of Civilians
as Human Shields(Intelligence and Terrorism Information
Center) The calculated, cynical use of the civilian population as human shields is intended to decrease the vulnerability of Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations by affording them a kind of immunity from the IDF’s counterterrorism activities, since they are aware that Israel avoids harming the civilian population insofar as is possible. It is also intended to make it possible for Hamas and the other terrorist organizations to make political-propaganda gains in the battle for hearts and minds by representing Israel as operating against innocent civilians. The terrorist organizations’ doctrine of using human shields was inspired by Hezbollah’s tactics in Lebanon and by the lessons they learned from the terrorist campaign they have been waging against Israel since 2000. Hamas and the other terrorist organizations copied and developed Hezbollah’s warfare doctrine, which is based on exploiting the civilian population as human shields. They adapted it to the unique conditions of the Gazan arena, which are topographically easier than those in south Lebanon. Using civilians as human shields is a war crime, a grave breach of the laws of armed conflict and a crime against humanity. Rockets and mortar shells are routinely fired from built up, densely populated areas and near structures and facilities (including educational institutions and mosques) provided special protection by the Geneva Conventions. In the scenario of an IDF incursion into the Gaza Strip, the terrorist organizations will use those urban and refugee camp settings as the focal points from which they fight. Rockets and mortar shells are fired at Israeli population centers from inside or close to private Palestinian residences and sometimes from educational institutions or mosques. The rocket launching squads deliberately situate their launchers near houses to camouflage
themselves and to protect themselves from the IDF. The attacks carried out by the terrorists
often disrupt the daily lives of the Palestinian population and endanger them. Sometimes
rockets explode as they are being prepared for firing, and in some instances homemade
Qassam rockets (whose technical quality is low) fall in the Gaza Strip instead of Israel and kill and wound local civilians.
GAZA IN RUINS:
'Who Has Won Here?' (Der Spiegel) In the Gaza Strip people are returning home -- or to the rubble that was once their home. Many are blaming Hamas for the destruction because the militants hid among civilians and attracted Israeli fire. Yet no one dares to speak out openly.
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Israel has all but ruled out fully reopening border crossings with Gaza as long as Hamas rules the enclave or stands to benefit from the easing of restrictions, a top adviser to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said. The adviser said Israel would allow the "maximum" flow of food, medicine, oil and gas to Gaza, but steel and cement needed for rebuilding would have to wait. "If opening the passages will strengthen Hamas, we won't do it," he said. This week, Israel told the UN and other aid groups planning for the rebuilding that they must apply for project-by-project Israeli approval and provide guarantees none of the work will benefit Hamas. The adviser said he doubted Hamas would agree to let Abbas' security forces, backed by international observers, return to the border crossings, as Israel and Egypt have proposed. He said Abbas' forces were not ready for Gaza. "It's a limited force. And in order to take it to Gaza, I think they need first more training, more forces, and this is something that takes time." Even if Hamas agreed to let Abbas' PA run the crossings, Israel believes Hamas would maintain control behind the scenes and take over "within days," he said. (Reuters) Yasser Abd Rabbo, an ally of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, said in Ramallah on Thursday that Hamas had "turned its rifles in the direction of Fatah members" after Israel stopped its military offensive on Sunday. Rabbo accused Hamas of placing Fatah supporters under house arrest and shooting some of them in the legs. (New York Times)
Hundreds of Hamas supporters have been beaten, arrested and tortured across the West Bank as Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas takes revenge on Hamas for its crackdown on his Fatah supporters in Gaza, Hamas activists say. Hamas has admitted arresting, executing and torturing Fatah "spies" it has accused of aiding Israel during the war in Gaza. Hamas leaders also have branded Abbas as an Israeli collaborator. (San Francisco Chronicle) The Israel Defense Forces' Gaza Division Commander on Thursday branded Hamas' use of women and children during Israel's recent offensive as "monstrous" and "inhumane." Brig. Gen. Eyal Eisenberg said civilians were sent by Hamas to transfer weapons to gunmen during the offensive. He also accused Hamas of booby-trapping many of the civilians' homes. "Entire families in Gaza lived on top of a barrel of explosives for months," Eisenberg said. Palestinian civilians have accused Hamas of forcing them to stay in homes from which gunmen shot at Israeli soldiers, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported Thursday. (Ha'aretz) "Sometimes it's incomprehensible just how monstrously and inhumanely Hamas operatives behave, whether it's to send a woman out with a Koran in one hand and a grenade in the other, or to give a child weapons to transfer from place to place," Eisenberg said. (Ynet News) |
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