Answering Your Questions About the War Against Hamas

Plus: Finding more weapons in children's bedrooms

In today’s newsletter I’ll answer some of the questions I’ve received from readers in the comments and via social media. If you have a question you’d like answered, please leave a comment and be sure to subscribe for the next Q & A installment.

First, some background

My primary job as the international spokesperson for the IDF during a war is managing the IDF’s relationship with the press, as well as our digital media presence (you can see all our accounts here).

This job includes conducting briefings, answering urgent questions from reporters, and leading our incredible officers and soldiers who have been working 24/7 (as a matter of fact, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit’s number is the 247th) to provide accurate information on the war as quickly as possible.

The way we consume information has changed though. I know that because… you’re reading this here. The internet unlocks direct communication to everyone via blogs, newsletters, and social media.

I’ve been reading your comments and emails from the first day I started this Substack..

The comments have helped shape some of my posts, but today I want to share answers to some of the questions I’ve received.

Let’s get to the questions

From Jacqui and Cindy:
Could you speak more about what the IDF does to protect civilians in Gaza?

A: Absolutely. But first, one important thing to note is that Hamas decided transformed the cities of Gaza into cities of terror, firing rockets from cities, storing weapons in homes and building command centers under buildings. If not for that, we would not need to operate within the cities.

But that’s the nature of terrorist organizations and its one we need to contend with.

So before and during the IDF’s ground operation in Gaza, we encouraged civilians to move south away from the most dangerous fighting. Throughout the war we’ve opened humanitarian corridors for civilians to safely evacuate, and implemented tactical pauses in combat operations. Just this week, we facilitated the evacuation of newborns to safety from Shifa hospital.

We did everything we could to make sure that every Gazan knew that they should relocate. We made tens of thousands of phone calls, sent millions of text messages, and dropped flyers from airplanes imploring civilians to leave areas where Hamas is operating and released info on social media.

Finally, it goes without saying that the IDF does not target civilians. Our war is with Hamas, not the people of Gaza who have been suffering under their rule.

For more details on the steps the IDF takes to protect civilians, I encourage everyone to check out this page on the IDF’s website. And, once more, let me reiterate that Hamas’s use of human shields is absolutely deplorable and reminds me of the Golda Meir quote:

When peace comes we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons

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From Caroline:
Does Hamas have quality weapons?
Yes. Their Iranian financiers and agents have been able to send advanced weapons into Gaza, including long range rockets, surface-to-air missiles, a massive network of tunnels, UAVs and more. When many people here “terrorist organization” they think of a fly-by-night organization without infrastructure. Hamas is anything but. Check out this video below for more.

From x26h7x:
How could they (Hamas) dig such a large network of tunnels?

A: Unfortunately, we know that for years Hamas has been stealing building materials and aid from the people of Gaza to invest in their tunnels. We also released aerial intelligence showing how Hamas built these tunnels under the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza…and if you’ve seen our recent material from under Shifa Hospital, you’ll see the same types of arched tunnels.

It’s also important to remember what they use these tunnels for.As one of their leaders admits in this interview, the tunnels are for the Hamas fighters and leadership only, not for the people of Gaza. Of course, we’ve also see this weaken structures throughout Gaza, leading to collapsing buildings.

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From Vernon:
Do Palestinians in Gaza get fed-up with the mess caused by the Hamas terrorists in their midst?

A: They do. We’re seeing this more and more as Hamas loses control of areas in Gaza. Just yesterday a senior IDF intelligence officer was quoted as saying

"We received thousands of phone calls from Gazans, on a scale never seen before in the unit. It is evident that the residents of the Gaza Strip are not satisfied with the barbaric conduct of Hamas, the ordinary civilian understands that Hamas is bringing disaster to the residents of Gaza that will be difficult for them to recover from.”

From Sally Simon:
Is it possible to show more of the humanitarian aid Israel is providing?

A: We had the same thought! We just created this website where we’ll be updating our humanitarian efforts.

Also, I encourage everyone to follow CogatOnline on X (formerly Twitter). They’re the unit responsible for humanitarian aid to Gaza and they do a great job explaining what’s going in to Gaza every day.

From Ariel:
Why does the media around the world treat this evidence of hospitals housing Hamas bases as "something Israel says that Hamas denies"?

A: As I mentioned yesterday, there’s a major moral and professional problem with treating announcements from a terror organization with the same credibility as that of a liberal democracy.

Let’s hope that as we continue expose Hamas’ cruelty, cynicism, and lies this becomes clearer for those who don’t get it.

From Winnie Vanderkloor:
May I show your info to the outside? Like on X.
A: Absolutely! We rely on readers like you to share as widely as possible. You can click the button below to easily share this newsletter.

From Álvaro:
Sir, do you think this war can really be won? A: I don’t think it can be won - I know it will be won. We didn’t start it. But we will end it.

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Operational Updates

Last week I shared a video of a child’s bedroom in Gaza where Hamas was storing rockets. I’m disgusted (but not surprised) to say that IDF troops have again found weapons under a child’s bed - this is a anti-tank missile found under a crib.

Southern Front:

• Over the last day, IDF aircraft struck approximately 250 Hamas terror targets. Among the targets struck were dozens of terrorists, rocket launchers, and other terrorist infrastructure.

• IDF troops located a significant weapons stockpile in the residence of a senior Nukhba terrorist in the Gaza Strip.

• Soldiers from the Combat Engineering, Infantry and Armored Corps of the 36th Division are fighting to defeat the 'Zaytun' Battalion of the Hamas terrorist organization.

  • The 'Zaytun' Battalion is one of Hamas’ main battalions operating in the area of Zaytun in Gaza City.

  • The troops have encountered an enemy that is entrenched in the heart of residential neighborhoods, hospitals, schools and kindergartens, and attacks from within civilian infrastructure.

Northern Front:

• This morning, IDF aircraft identified and struck three armed terrorist cells in the area of the border with Lebanon. Aircraft also struck a number of Hezbollah terror targets, including military infrastructure and structures used for directing terrorist activity.

• Three anti-tank missiles were fired from Lebanese territory toward Metula in northern Israel were identified. No injuries were reported. In response, IDF soldiers are striking toward the source of the fire in Lebanon.

• Mortar shells were fired at an IDF post in northern Israel. No injuries were reported. IDF artillery struck the source of the fire

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Quote of the Day

"During the last days of the fighting of the 36th Division in Zaytun, we constantly encountered an enemy hiding behind children, women and civilian infrastructure. The soldiers of the division, including soldiers of the Golani Brigade, the 188th Brigade and the Bislamach Brigade, operated in a complex war zone in an urban area, exposed terrorists who were hiding in civilian areas and eliminated many terrorists.”

- Commanding Officer of the 36th Division, Brigadier General Dado Bar Kalifa

What I’m Reading

CNN visited the exposed tunnel shaft in the Al-Shifa hospital compound. Here’s what we saw - CNN