When the world gets played

Today, I want to talk about Hamas’s human shields. More specifically, about where blame is attributed, how blaming Israel instead of Hamas isn’t just wrong, it’s downright dangerous…and can cost lives

When the world gets played

Today, I want to talk about Hamas’s human shields. More specifically, about where blame is attributed, how blaming Israel instead of Hamas isn’t just wrong, it’s downright dangerous…and how this can cost lives. 

Back to Israel’s war with Hamas

One of Hamas’s core strategic tenants has been to hide behind Gazans, protecting terrorists by fighting from under hospitals and mosques. The goal is to maximize Gazan civilian casualties, point a finger at Israel regardless of who hurts them (see the al-Ahli Gaza Hospital as a case in point), and to get the world to condemn Israel. 

Gazans are dying. And it’s tragic.

But it’s Hamas deliberate strategy that is causing it, not Israel.

Every time Hamas tactics succeed and Israel is blamed, it sends a clear message to Hamas that their strategy is working.

It tells them to continue to shoot rockets that misfire and kill Palestinians. It tells them that fighting from hospitals offers them a carte blanche.

That firing rockets from kindergartens or near UN facilities leads to one of two responses from Israel - either ignoring the attacks and letting them happen again or attack Hamas’ positions and get slammed. And it tells terrorists around the world - terrorists that Western armies will inevitably face - that this works.

So the IDF is talking about it.

This is a nuanced point that isn’t built for the type of 15 second gore clips that Hamas has cruelly inflicted on their own population. But it needs to be said. 

So that’s what we did at a press conference moments ago.

Here’s some shorthand of what we said.

1. The IDF is fighting Hamas, not the people of Gaza.

Getting Gazan residents out of the line of fire so that Israel could contend with Hamas directly and prevent another October 7th massacre is and has been a top priority. To date, Israel has distributed over 1.5 million pamphlets in aerial drops across Gaza, imploring them to leave.

RADM Daniel Hagari, the IDF Spokesperson, sharing footage of a journalist in Gaza holding the pamphlets that Israel dropped. RADML Hagari clarified that in some cases, the Israeli Air Force prioritized dropping leaflets over other missions.

Israel has sent over 4.3 million text messages asking them to move south, to safer areas in southern Gaza. Over 5.9 million prerecorded phone calls were placed and nearly 20,000 live phone calls were placed. Our military has been pushing the message on social media for weeks. It’s a priority.

2. Hamas wants civilians in the line of fire.

Hamas strategy has two uses for the residents of Gaza -  either as human shields or as body counts. That’s why Hamas places blockades to prevent people from leaving northern Gaza, why Hamas shoots at civilians when they try to leave, and why they confiscate keys and ID cards from residents.

Hamas sees the Palestinians of Gaza as a tool in their terrorist arsenal, not as people to defend. That’s why Hamas is in the tunnels, not Gazans. Hamas has done everything it can to counter the IDF's efforts to urge civilians in Gaza to move south.

3. Hospitals are Hamas havens.

When it comes to shielding their activity, hospitals are the most insidious example of Hamas’s human shield strategy. 

In this recently declassified aerial surveillance video, Hamas shoots from a hospital in Gaza. Hamas exploitation isn’t always as clearcut on camera but is far, far more pervasive than “just” firing from hospitals. We’ve released information on how Hamas has fortified military tunnels and command posts under Shifa hospital. Today, we also declassified intelligence that shows the extent to which Hamas tunnels are being built under Gaza’s hospitals and how rockets are being fired from near a hospital.

This isn’t just about hospital. For example, here’s a Hamas rocket launch pit located right next to a swimming pool. 

I could - unfortunately -  go on for much longer but the playbook is clear: use civilians as human shield, attack Israel, and either avoid attacks or exploit Western rage that should be directed at Hamas to ensure that the terrorist organization can do it again and again and again. 

Picture of a Hamas tunnel entrance revealed in the yards of the Sheikh Hamad hospital in Gaza

This is outrageous. But the more outrage is directed at Israel, rather than Hamas, the longer both Israelis and Gazans will remain at risk from the terrorist actions of Hamas. It must end.

Richard.

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Operational Updates

• Israel is in the fifth week of a war triggered by Hamas' attack on southern Israeli communities. IDF forces are operating deep within the Gaza Strip using air, navy, and ground forces while collaborating with intelligence.

• Over 2,500 terrorist targets have been struck, including compounds, tunnels, leadership, and more, during the ground operations.

• Israel is taking measures to mitigate the impact on Gaza's residents and enabling access to humanitarian supplies - over the weekend, 63 trucks of supplies entered the Gaza Strip.

• Hezbollah has been firing on IDF positions along the northern border, and the IDF responds with tank, artillery, and air attacks. On Sunday, a UAV was identified flying from deep inside Lebanon toward Israel. The UAV was intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array over Lebanon. Several launches from Lebanon to Avivim in northern Israel and a fire toward the area of Malkia in northern Israel were identified. The IDF responded with artillery fire toward the sources of the fire.

• The Israeli homefront continues to face rocket fire, and active missile defense systems are being used to intercept rockets.

• 241 families have been notified of their loved ones being held hostage, and 345 families have been notified of soldiers and security forces killed in action since October 7th.

Quote of the Day

“This is Salman. Do you require any assistance? Any immediate evacuations”

Excerpt from the final radio communication made by Lt. Col. Salman Chabka, Commander of the 53rd Battalion, offering to help soldiers evacuate in northern Gaza on November 2nd. Lt. Col. Chabka was killed in action.

What I’m Reading

These are interesting articles I’ve recently come across. By sharing them I am not endorsing them, their points of view, or the veracity of information therein. They’re just interesting articles I came across.

The IDF recently embedded a number of foreign journalists with IDF forces in the Gaza Strip. You can check out some of their coverage here:

• Fox News’ Trey Yingst’s preview of his broader article

• Coverage from inside of the Gaza Strip in the New York Times

• The Sunday Times’ Anshel Pfeffer inside of Gaza