Israel/Palestine
Related: About this forumHamas's Civilian Death Strategy
Let's state the obvious: No one likes to see dead children. Well, that's not completely true: Hamas does. They would prefer those children to be Jewish, but there is greater value to them if they are Palestinian. Outmatched by Israel's military, handicapped by rocket launchers with the steady hands of Barney Fife, Hamas is playing the long game of moral revulsion.
With this conflict about to enter its third week, winning the PR war is the best Hamas can hope to achieve. Their weapon of choice, however, seems to be the cannon fodder of their own people, performing double duty in also sounding the drumbeat of Israeli condemnation. If you can't beat Iron Dome, then deploy sacrificial children as human shields.
...
The people of Gaza overwhelmingly elected Hamas, a terrorist outfit dedicated to the destruction of Israel, as their designated representatives. Almost instantly Hamas began stockpiling weapons and using them against a more powerful foe with a solid track record of retaliation.
What did Gazans think was going to happen? Surely they must have understood on election night that their lives would now be suspended in a state of utter chaos. Life expectancy would be miserably low; children would be without a future. Staying alive would be a challenge, if staying alive even mattered anymore.
To make matters worse, Gazans sheltered terrorists and their weapons in their homes, right beside ottoman sofas and dirty diapers. When Israel warned them of impending attacks, the inhabitants defiantly refused to leave.
On some basic level, you forfeit your right to be called civilians when you freely elect members of a terrorist organization as statesmen, invite them to dinner with blood on their hands and allow them to set up shop in your living room as their base of operations. At that point you begin to look a lot more like conscripted soldiers than innocent civilians. And you have wittingly made yourself targets.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/thane-rosenbaum-civilian-casualties-in-gaza-1405970362
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HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)That says a lot about you.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)Israel has killed over 500 people, most of them civilians. Anyone who would kill children to get to a missile does not deserve my support. Any military force that shoots missiles at children playing ball on a beach is the one i blame for the deaths of the children.
The IDF keeps dropping bombs on hospitals and schools and apartment homes, annihilating whole families to get to one supposed bad guy. The IDF kills indiscriminately now. Many more dead civilians than fighters. If this is what Hamas wants, why is Israel giving them what they want? I blame the guys pulling the trigger fir the dead bodies that pile up as a result.
shira
(30,109 posts)A police officer has no choice but to fire at the gunner, but hits a civilian.
No court on the planet would find the officer guilty.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)That is whats happning. Except Israel is the hostage taker in this situation as they have Gaza blockaded in. They are also the cop that shoots the hostage. Yes. I would vote to convict.
shira
(30,109 posts)In the last Gaza war of 2008-09 the civilian to combatant kill ratio was right around 1:1 and nowhere near 100:1. A ratio of 1:1 is unheard of in modern times, and shows Israel is actually more careful than any other Western power when it comes to protecting civilians.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)Most of them are civilians. And YES the IDF HAS killed over a HUNDRED children to get to those few bad guys. How can any military force justify killing over a hundred children in a week?
shira
(30,109 posts)The UN estimate that there has been an average three-to-one ratio of civilian to combatant deaths in such conflicts worldwide. Three civilians for every combatant killed.
That is the estimated ratio in Afghanistan: three to one. In Iraq, and in Kosovo, it was worse: the ratio is believed to be four-to-one. Anecdotal evidence suggests the ratios were very much higher in Chechnya and Serbia.
In Gaza, it was less than one-to-one.”[52]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_casualty_ratio
The same claims of "massacre" were made in 2008-09 and it led to the Goldstone Report, which was later negated by Richard Goldstone himself. This is what I mean by demonization vs. criticism. It was pure hateful demonization that led to the Goldstone Report. Facts show Israel is more careful than any other country. We're talking 2 completely different realities. I hope you better understand where I'm coming from, because when I see preposterous allegations and horrific accusations here against Israel, I know they're complete bullshit and feel I have to say something...
bravenak
(34,648 posts)Mostly civilians.
shira
(30,109 posts)…were blaring out of Gaza in 2008-09. Those accusations turned out being grossly exaggerated and false.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)What about the video images of the dead children? I see that they are real and the IDF has not denied killing these people. They just blame Hamas for the death. They blame Hamas for making them pull the trigger. I had a boyfriend who used to hit me and then blame me for it.
shira
(30,109 posts)….is another issue entirely. Hamas' "Gazan Health Ministry" controls all information about casualties coming out from that area. It's an authoritarian regime. Given Hamas' propensity for lying, it makes no sense to take them at their word.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)Thats most of the victims. How can that be supported? Do not make excuses for that.
shira
(30,109 posts)….that's close to or better than 1:1, which is better than any other nation in modern times (including all Western ones). Based on its past record, I'm giving Israel the benefit of the doubt until things clear up. They've proven their intent to me.
The real question is why hold Israel to a higher standard than ANY other nation, when it's clear NO other nation on the planet would take those rockets or respond any more cautiously (with respect to civilians) than Israel has. Check that WIKI article again to see what they did. It's unheard of in modern warfare and is setting a standard for the US and UK in their future wars.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)I hold the mighty responsible when they bomb hospitals and kill civilians. It is our job to hold the powerful to a high standard.
I will not give Israel the benefit of doubt when i see such carnage and i see with my own eyes the broken bodies of children lying in a disaster zone. You should be the first to condemn the slaughter of ANY civilians as it makes Israel look bad.
shira
(30,109 posts)They're damned if they do and damned if they don't. If they do nothing, Hamas will go to town & will not stop terrorizing millions of Israelis. If Israel responds, they're made to regret it, and it doesn't matter whether their record is better WRT civilians than any other nation….which points to obvious bigotry.
The worst part is the total denial of Hamas human shielding. This is purely for demonization purposes, as the intent is to make Israel out to be a monster. If Hamas isn't shielding among the population, Israel appears insanely monstrous going after civilians. If Hamas is committing war crimes by embedding themselves in the population while firing at Israel, the picture becomes more complicated and it's MUCH harder if not impossible to make Israel out to be an evil, rogue nation…when the reality is that it's VERY difficult targeting Hamas while they're shielded within a civilian population.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)<a href="
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" border="0" alt=" photo imagejpg1_zpsf43760d0.jpg"/></a>
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)When the two Palestinian boys were killed on Nakba day you suggested rather wrongly that the two killed weren't the same boys in the morgue without a shred of proof.
Now you are suggesting that all those dead Palestinians aren't necessarily civilians.
Are all murdered Palestinians just terrorists to you?
samsingh
(18,426 posts)
Teamster Jeff
(1,598 posts)Won't make anyone forget the dead Kids in the street
samsingh
(18,426 posts)
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)"the devil MADE us do it"
shira
(30,109 posts)On Saturday, Israel warned journalists in the coastal strip that “Gaza and its vicinity are a battleground. Covering the hostilities exposes journalists to life-threatening danger. Israel is not in any way responsible for injury or damage that may occur as a result of field reporting.”
Follow
The Israeli side of the border with gaza was briefly open today, but Hamas did not let journalists leave Gaza.
Gregg Carlstrom @glcarlstrom
Follow
People in Gaza saying Hamas won't allow journalists to leave via Erez. They did the same last week, reopened it (briefly) after a day.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/as-israel-hunts-for-terror-tunnels-after-soldiers-killed-abbas-to-meet-hamas-chief-for-ceasefire-talks/
Gee, I wonder how Hamas' hostages in Gaza will report on events there.
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)where will they be housed really this a new one on me 
shira
(30,109 posts)What does Israel have to do with Hamas' new & unwilling hostages who will of course report accurately from Gaza?
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)Israel tells Gaza-based reporters it’s not liable for injury
The Israeli Government Press Office warns foreign journalists reporting from the Gaza Strip that covering the conflict in the Gaza Strip “exposes journalists to life-threatening danger.”
“As part of Hamas’ strategy of hiding behind the civilian population it has frequently exploited journalists as human shields, deliberately putting them at risk of injury or death,” the GPO says in a email forwarded to reporters.
“Israel is not in any way responsible for injury or damage that may occur as a result of field reporting.”
It closes, however, saying, “Be safe in your mission.”
http://www.timesofisrael.com/as-israel-hunts-for-terror-tunnels-after-soldiers-killed-abbas-to-meet-hamas-chief-for-ceasefire-talks/#ixzz389VfP07U
shira
(30,109 posts)Journalists are in a war zone, trusting an authoritarian terrorist regime with their lives.
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)Last edited Mon Jul 21, 2014, 09:43 PM - Edit history (1)
and as far as letting out it seems NBC just sent one of their reporters Ayman Mohyeldinback to Gaza after removing a few days back, how do you explain that?
shira
(30,109 posts)
earthside
(6,960 posts)... that Hamas is using civilians as human shields.
Just saw the MSNBC reporter on the ground in Gaza and he said that he has never seen this, nor to his knowledge have any other journalist been able to document Israel's claim.
Of course, Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on the earth, so everything is pretty much in proximity to everything else ... maybe that is Israel's rationalization.
samsingh
(18,426 posts)
LeftishBrit
(41,453 posts)samsingh
(18,426 posts)earthside
(6,960 posts)This Wall Street Journal article is not a 'news' report ... it is strictly opinion.
The author doesn't provide any evidence for his assertions other than "There are now reports ..."
kjones
(1,059 posts)Seems to me that Israel's supporters are pretty psyched
there are dead civilians to talk about (and blame Hamas for).
I had a face-to-face discussion with a supporter the other
day who seemed positively ecstatic about the deaths. He
actually chuckled through his shit eating grin, "They're
suicidal! They're glad it's happening."
Palestinian supporters who express as much satisfaction in
the PR "opportunity" eat similar amounts of shit. Haven't
really seen many of them though. Most are simply outraged.
shira
(30,109 posts)shira
(30,109 posts)Last edited Mon Jul 6, 2015, 04:35 PM - Edit history (1)
wellst0nev0ter
(7,509 posts)Indefensible.
mike_c
(37,051 posts)Sorry, I'm not buying the vile noise that Rosenbaum is selling. He is an apologist for apartheid and crimes against humanity.
Fozzledick
(3,921 posts)Sorry, I'm not buying that vile noise.
frylock
(34,825 posts)or someone on the internet with an obvious bias. hmmmnnnn.....
Fozzledick
(3,921 posts)Who should I believe, you or my own lying eyes...
frylock
(34,825 posts)You're way over there >>>>> with you're boy Netenyahu.
Fozzledick
(3,921 posts)frylock
(34,825 posts)Aren't you ever so cute and clever!
Fozzledick
(3,921 posts)What do you expect when you set yourself up like that?
frylock
(34,825 posts)You are a keeper, aren't you?
shira
(30,109 posts)One of the directives said that Israel should always be showed as attacking, and “we in Palestine are fulfilling the role of the reaction.”
Another stated:[font color = "red"] “Avoid publishing pictures of rockets fired into Israel from Gaza city centers. This would provide a pretext for attacking residential areas in the Gaza Strip. Do not publish or share photos or video clips showing rocket launching sites or the movement of resistance forces in Gaza.”[/font]
Interestingly, there were guidelines on how to speak to Westerners on social media as opposed to Arabs.
"When speaking to the West, you must use political, rational, and persuasive discourse, and avoid emotional discourse aimed at begging for sympathy.”
Also, “Avoid entering into a political argument with a Westerner aimed at convincing him that the Holocaust is a lie and deceit; instead, equate it with Israel's crimes against Palestinian civilians.”
When speaking to an Arab emphasize “the number of martyrs,” but with “a Western friend, start with the number of wounded and dead.
http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Hamas-tells-social-media-activists-to-always-call-the-dead-innocent-civilians-364154
shira
(30,109 posts)“At the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, crowds gathered to throw shoes and eggs at the Palestinian Authority’s health minister, who represents the crumbling ‘unity government’ in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The minister was turned away before he reached the hospital, which has become a de facto headquarters for Hamas leaders, who can be seen in the hallways and offices.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/while-israel-held-its-fire-the-militant-group-hamas-did-not/2014/07/15/116fd3d7-3c0f-4413-94a9-2ab16af1445d_story.html
shaayecanaan
(6,068 posts)"On some basic level, you forfeit your right to be called civilians when you freely elect members of a terrorist organization as statesmen"
Fozzledick
(3,921 posts)shira
(30,109 posts)The Syrian army can learn from the Israeli army about morality in urban warfare and safeguarding the lives of civilians, a moderator on a popular Al-Jazeera news show has said.
The conversation on the news show "The Opposite Direction" hosted by Faisal al-Qassem centered around Syrian President Bashar Assad's military tactics in the ongoing Syrian civil war. Along with the Israeli army, al-Qassem also praised the moral character of the French military.
"Why don't they learn from the Israeli army, which tries, through great efforts, to avoid shelling areas populated by civilians in Lebanon and Palestine?
"Didn't Hezbollah take shelter in areas populated by civilians because it knows that the Israeli air force doesn't bomb these areas? Why doesn't the Syrian army respect the premises of universities, schools or inhabited neighborhoods?"
"Didn't they (the Syrian Army) ever hear about principles and morals of urban warfare? Didn't the Syrian army target many civilian areas despite the fact that no fighters were present there?" al-Qassem asked.
"The Israeli army, if it wanted to break up a demonstration, would have used water cannons or rubber bullets, not rockets or explosive barrels as happens in Aleppo today.
"I want to ask you on one important point. ... It's a shame to compare the National Syrian Army with the French during the French occupation, or the Israeli army. Shame!" the moderator added.
http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Syrias-army-can-learn-alot-about-morality-from-the-IDF-Al-Jazeera-host-says-362900
shaayecanaan
(6,068 posts)but then again a lot of the dead soldiers are barely out of high school.
No doubt the Israeli army does take more effort to avoid civilian casualties than the Syrian Army, but that is an exceedingly low bar to clear.
shira
(30,109 posts)http://www.btselem.org/gaza_strip/20121115_gaza_operation
http://www.bitterlemons.org/previous/bl230209ed8.html#isr2
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)However, this position is fundamentally flawed. The fact that Hamas combatants and other organizations operate contrary to the law does not automatically justify Israeli actions that harm civilians. The fact that one side violates the law does not give the other side the right to violate it as well. Israel is still bound by the duty – legal and moral – to use all the means at its disposal to minimize as much as possible harm to civilians, despite Hamas' illegal conduct.
During Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli military ignored this principle. B'Tselem cautions against the possibility that it will ignore it in the current operation as well, in order to justify harm to the civilian population. Therefore, and based on the lessons of the previous operation, B'Tselem wishes to emphasize some basic rules by which the military must operate, in keeping with commitments undertaken by the State of Israel:
shira
(30,109 posts)From the Goldstone Report:
even entire neighbourhoods". It adds, "in essence, the Hamas strategy was to transform the urban
areas of the Gaza Strip into a massive death trap for IDF forces, in gross disregard for the safety
of the civilian population " 317 The Mission notes that the existence of booby-trapped houses is
mentioned in testimonies of Israeli soldiers collected by [font color = "red"]Breaking the Silence. [/font]One soldier recounts witnessing the detonation of a powerful explosion inside a house as a bulldozer
approached it. A second soldier stated "many explosive charges were found, they also blew up,
no one was hurt. Tank Corps or Corps of Engineers units blew them up. Usually they did not
explode because most of the ones we found were wired and had to be detonated, but whoever
was supposed to detonate them had run off. It was live, however, ready. . ,". 318 Also the reports
published by Palestinian armed groups, on which the submission to the Mission on the tactics of
Palestinian combatants by the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs is based, suggest that booby-
trapped civilian houses were a frequently used tactic. 319 According to the Israeli Government,
"because roads and buildings were often mined, IDF forces had to target them to protect
themselves". 320
https://archive.org/stream/GoldstoneReport_456/GoldstoneReport_djvu.txt
shira
(30,109 posts)azurnoir
(45,850 posts)are you attempting to justify that?
shira
(30,109 posts)Second time in a week that rockets are found at a UN school in Gaza.
Today, in the course of the regular inspection of its premises, UNRWA discovered rockets hidden in a vacant school in the Gaza Strip. As soon as the rockets were discovered, UNRWA staff were withdrawn from the premises, and so we are unable to confirm the precise number of rockets. The school is situated between two other UNRWA schools that currently each accommodate 1,500 internally displaced persons.
UNRWA strongly and unequivocally condemns the group or groups responsible for this flagrant violation of the inviolability of its premises under international law.
The Agency immediately informed the relevant parties and is pursuing all possible measures for the removal of the objects in order to preserve the safety and security of the school. UNRWA will launch a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident.
UNRWA has reinforced and continues to implement its robust procedures to maintain the neutrality of all its premises, including a strict no-weapons policy and regular inspections of its installations, to ensure they are only used for humanitarian purposes.
Palestinian civilians in Gaza rely on UNRWA to provide humanitarian assistance and shelter. At all times, and especially during escalations of violence, the sanctity and integrity of UN installations must be respected.
http://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/press-releases/unrwa-condemns-placement-rockets-second-time-one-its-schools
shira
(30,109 posts)During the lull, a group of men at a mosque in northern Gaza said they had returned to clean up the green glass from windows shattered in the previous day’s bombardment. But they could be seen moving small rockets into the mosque.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/gaza-residents-scramble-to-make-most-of-five-hour-truce/2014/07/17/e5485fce-0d7e-11e4-8341-b8072b1e7348_story.html
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)but that's all the wapo story says about it
shira
(30,109 posts)shira
(30,109 posts)shira
(30,109 posts)LeftishBrit
(41,453 posts)I don't think even Hamas WANT dead Palestinian children; more accurate to say they don't give a flying fuck. In their attitude to human lives , they remind me of the generals of WW1.
But the deaths of children is always a tragedy; and the indifference or worse of the Hamas leaders does not justify what the Israeli government has been doing. And let's assume the worst of Hamas -that they want dead Palestinian children for propaganda purposes? - then, apart from all higher moral considerations, why should Israel give them what they want?
'The people of Gaza overwhelmingly elected Hamas, a terrorist outfit dedicated to the destruction of Israel, as their designated representatives'. No; they elected them but NOT overwhelmingly or even with an absolute majority. 44.5% is not an overwhelming majority.
'On some basic level, you forfeit your right to be called civilians when you freely elect members of a terrorist organization as statesmen'
Careful there. Does the author of the article really want enemy factions to consider the 2004/2005 re-elections of Bush and Blair the warmongers as a good reason for declaring war, or terrorist attacks, on the Americans and British, for example? Equating entire populations with the bad leaders that (some of) them elect, or assuming that they are no longer to be treated as civilians if they elect bad people, sets a very VERY dangerous precedent.
shira
(30,109 posts)Israel's past record in wars (civilian to combatant ratio) proves their intent. There's no reason to suspect anything has changed.
Israel's civilians face real life-threatening situations now with the rockets and tunnels. I know you're not seeing this but millions are constantly fleeing to bomb shelters. Those near the border fear Hamas tunnels infiltration. Israel has no choice doing what they're doing. The biggest news is that Israel is totally united left to right. Not 100% but pretty damn close given what they face from Hamas.
Israeli
(4,485 posts)ref: " The biggest news is that Israel is totally united left to right. "
Meretz MK: Bibi’s Got the War He Wanted
MK Esawi Frij (Meretz) accused Prime Minister Netanyahu of exploiting the abduction of three Jewish teenagers as an excuse to “rile things up” for Palestinian Authority Arabs.
“The Netanyahu government has been looking for a reason to go to war. Now, it’s finally got one,” Frij said.
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/meretz-mk-bibis-got-the-war-he-wanted/2014/06/16/
Reports Of Violence Against Anti-War Protesters In Tel Aviv
The left-leaning Labor and Meretz parties are asking the attorney general to probe reports of violence against anti-war protesters in Tel Aviv.
Calling for an investigation, Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On said “it’s unacceptable that the police, instead of fulfilling their duty to protect protesters and their right to demonstrate, instead abandons them and defends the rioters.”
The Labor Party also issued a letter on Sunday, calling on the Attorney General, the Israel Police and the State Attorney to probe the incident…
Channel 1 reporter Dudi Nissim, who was broadcasting next to the protest when the fights began, said that the violence was started by the right-wing protesters, who he said seemed to come looking for a fight and were the ones using violence. He said that they chased one person into the nearby “Nehama V’Hetzi” café and beat them inside the establishment.
http://www.alan.com/2014/07/13/reports-of-violence-against-anti-war-protesters-in-tel-aviv/
Statement on Gaza War by World Union of Meretz
source: http://blog.partners4israel.org/2014/07/statement-on-gaza-war-by-world-union-of.html
shira
(30,109 posts)How close is your Kibbutz to the Gaza border?
Israeli
(4,485 posts)youre the expert 
closer than you are to any of our borders .
shira
(30,109 posts)Response to shira (Reply #67)
Post removed
shira
(30,109 posts)“I am standing with a very heavy heart,” says Ban Ki-moon. “As we speak there are rockets from Hamas and Islamic Jihad continued to be fired in Israel.”
“We condemn strongly the rocket attacks. These must stop immediately. We condemn the use of civilians sites, SCHOOLS, hospitals and other civilian facilities for military purposes. No country would accept the rockets raining down on its territory. All countries and parties have an obligation to protect its citizens.”
In fact, there was a rocket alert in the south as Ban spoke in Tel Aviv.
shira
(30,109 posts)The presence of militant fighters in Shejaia became clear Sunday afternoon when, under the cover of a humanitarian truce intended to allow both sides to remove the dead and wounded, several armed Palestinians scurried from the scene.
Some bore their weapons openly, slung over their shoulder, but at least two, disguised as women, were seen walking off with weapons partly concealed under their robes. Another had his weapon wrapped in a baby blanket and held on his chest as if it were an infant.
The shelling of Shejaia took its toll of the civilian population there. While the Israelis had warned citizens two days earlier to leave, many had refused in large part because Hamas said it expected people to remain.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/thousands-flee-gaza-homes-as-israel-expands-ground-assault/article19683732/
shira
(30,109 posts)“Hamas was perfectly well aware of what would happen if they started raining rockets in Israel,” Clinton said. “They fired a thousand of them. And they have a strategy designed to force Israel to kill their own civilians so that the rest of the world will condemn them.”
Who here on DU would believe a single word Bill Clinton has to say about anything?
shira
(30,109 posts)Last edited Wed Jul 23, 2014, 06:51 PM - Edit history (1)
And also a shill for Bibi Netanyahu.
So everyone can safely ignore him.
shira
(30,109 posts)The EU's foreign ministers, following a monthly meeting in Brussels, issued a statement on the Middle East condemning “the indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel by Hamas and militant groups in the Gaza Strip, directly harming civilians. These are criminal and unjustifiable. The statement also called on Hamas to immediately put an end to its rocket attacks, and to renounce violence. “All terrorist groups in Gaza must disarm. The EU strongly condemns calls on the civilian population of Gaza to provide themselves as human shields. “ Regarding civilian losses inside Gaza Strip, the statement “condemns the loss of hundreds of civilian lives, among them many women and children.”
“While recognizing Israel's legitimate right to defend itself against any attacks, the EU underlines that the Israeli military operation must be proportionate and in line with international humanitarian law,” the statement read. The statement said the EU was “particularly appalled by the human cost” of the operation in Shejaia, and is “deeply concerned at the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation.” The foreign ministers called on all sides to immediately implement a cease fire.
One senior diplomatic official said that Israel was pleased with the statement, even though after dealing with the Gaza situation it went on to repeat the EU's well-known position regarding a two state solution, settlements and negotiations.
http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/EU-calls-on-Hamas-to-disarm-condemns-use-of-civilians-as-shields-368509
shira
(30,109 posts)shira
(30,109 posts)The IDF targeted sections of the Al-Wafa rehabilitation hospital in Gaza’s Shejaiya neighborhood on Wednesday, explaining that the medical facility was being used as a Hamas command center and utilized repeatedly by Islamist gunmen to launch attacks on Israeli forces. It said it had issued repeated warnings to the hospital authorities, told civilians to vacate the premises, and warned the gunmen to stop abusing the medical facility.
“Hamas terrorists have been intentionally abusing the hospital and other international protected symbols to indiscriminately attack Israel and its civilians,” said IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner.
The 17 patients who were in the complex were moved to another location last Thursday, the hospital’s chief, Basman Alashi, told Haaretz, after the Israeli Air Force carried out an earlier strike at the site.
In a statement the IDF explained that “the hospital grounds and its immediate surroundings have been repeatedly utilized by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as a command center, rocket launching site, and a post enabling terrorists to open fire at soldiers.”
Gunmen, some launching anti-tank missiles, frequently opened fire on troops operating in the area, the IDF said, including on Wednesday morning. Airstrikes against the compound went ahead “in light of several occasions in which fire was opened at IDF forces from within the hospital grounds, and despite repeated warnings against such activities, and notifications to civilians to vacate the premises.”
The IDF noted that it had repeatedly brought the abuse of the hospital grounds to the attention of international organizations and also directly warned the hospital administration and Palestinian officials of the situation.
Channel 2 reported that the notification included a personal phone call to the hospital administrator warning him of the upcoming attacks.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-targets-hospital-hamas-used-as-firing-position/#ixzz38IsQZZUP
shira
(30,109 posts)Harry Fear
@harryfear
Al-Wafa hospital has been hit in the last while; injuries reported — this is the hospital with human shields. #GazaUnderAttack
shira
(30,109 posts)shira
(30,109 posts)John Reed
@JohninJerusalem
Watched two rockets fired toward Israel from near al-Shifa hospital, even as more bombing victims were brought in. Not over yet. #Gaza
The pro-Hamas comments in response to this tweet are priceless.
shira
(30,109 posts)Tweet was deleted, but too late as it still exists in cyberspace...
https://twitter.com/Yair_Rosenberg/status/491955628211208192
more...
https://twitter.com/ishyimini/status/491940563072348161
Media complicity with Hamas, covering for their war crimes.
shira
(30,109 posts)RT's Harry Fear under fire for reporting rockets fired near his hotel:
https://twitter.com/CiFWatch/status/489705933552226304/photo/1
The following are tweets from friends of Hamas who are angry at the Journalist for reporting on these Hamas war crimes (human shielding):
https://twitter.com/search?q=harryfear&src=typd
shira
(30,109 posts)Peter StefanovicVerified account
@peterstefanovic
Hamas rockets just launched over our hotel, from a site about two hundred metres away. So a missile launch site is basically next door..
https://twitter.com/peterstefanovic/status/491855161187659776
shira
(30,109 posts)shira
(30,109 posts)Slowly but surely, Hamas' game is being exposed along with Hamas' western enablers.
http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Gaza-reporters-tweets-Hamas-using-human-shields-368689
Several journalists from around the world reported seeing rockets fired from civilian areas in Gaza in recent days, and received threatening tweets in return accusing them of “informing” the IDF.
On Wednesday, Peter Stefanovic of Australia’s Channel Nine News tweeted: “Hamas rockets just launched over our hotel from a site about two hundred metres away. So a missile launch site is basically next door.”
An account called @ThisIsGaza said this was Stefanovic’s fourth time “passing and fabricating information to Israel... from GAZA” and threatened to sue him.
Another account, @longitude0 wrote: “You are a cretin. Are you working for the IDF” and “in WWII spies got shot.”
Financial Times Jerusalem Bureau Chief John Reed reported seeing “two rockets fired toward Israel from near al-Shifa hospital, even as more bombing victims were brought in.”
Shifa, in Gaza City, is the main medical facility in the Strip.
In response, @Saritah_91 tweeted: “We’ll hold you responsible if Israel uses your tweet to bomb the hospital & then justify it.”
Another twitter user, @ Faysal_FreeGaza, said he’s “subtly justifying and encouraging IDF attacks on hospitals,” and @Maysara_ ara wrote: “Get out of Gaza u informant.”
Wall Street Journal correspondent Nick Casey tweeted on Tuesday a photo of a Hamas official using Shifa hospital for media interviews, writing: “You have to wonder w the shelling how patients at Shifa hospital feel as Hamas uses it as a safe place to see interviews.”
By Wednesday, the tweet was deleted, but pro-Palestinian Twitter accounts continued to include him on lists of “journos in Gaza who lie/fabricate info for Israel” and “must be sued for crimes.”
On Sunday, Janis Mackey Frayer, a correspondent for Canada’s CTV, tweeted that, while in Gaza City’s Shejaiya’s neighborhood, she “saw several Hamas gunmen.
One passed dressed in a woman’s headscarf... tip of a gun poked out from under cloak.”
She received threats similar to those sent to other reporters.
Harry Fear, a journalist from the UK reporting from Gaza for RT (formerly Russia Today) television, tweeted last week: “Early morning Gaza rockets were fired into Israel. A well-known site in W. Gaza City, near my hotel, was among the origins, confirm locals.”
Fear then took on the critics, tweeting soon after that he rejects “loaded complaints that I ‘informed’ Israel about the specifics of Gaza military sites... These sites are well-known among locals and internationals here.”
“Should a journalist only report the noise and ferocity of Israel’s attacks & not the sounds of Gaza’s rockets? Both terrify people,” he tweeted.
Later that day, Fear tweeted: “Al-Wafa hospital has been hit in the last while; injuries reported – this is the hospital with human shields.”