Once again, Israel is fighting terrorists who are breaking all the rules of warfare. Hamas has launched hundreds of rockets indiscriminately at Israeli cities—including the major cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem—and is defending their own military targets with civilians.
The IDF Blog posted photos and videos showing Hamas hiding an advanced missile launching site and other weapons in neighborhoods, and that’s not even the worst offense.
In one video clip on the IDF Blog, Israel drops a nonlethal bomb intended to warn civilians to leave an area before the IDF strikes a terror target there. Initially, the effort works, as civilians leave the danger zone.
But then other persons actually go to the roof of the targeted building to serve as human shields for it. Faced with the risk of killing the persons, the IDF Blog reported their aircraft called off the attack instead.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed Hamas’ use of human shields in comments released by his office on Sunday. “one must understand how our enemy operates. Who hides in mosques? Hamas. Who puts arsenals under hospitals? Hamas. Who puts command centers in residences or near kindergartens? Hamas.”
Netanyahu noted that Hamas’ use of Gazans as human shields is “bringing disaster to the civilians of Gaza; therefore, for any attack on Gaza civilians, which we regret, Hamas and its partners bear sole responsibility.”
Netanyahu pointed out that while they are putting their own civilians at risk, the leaders of Hamas themselves are hiding and fleeing the danger zone. “This is the entire difference between us and Hamas—we are using defensive systems against missiles to protect the residents of Israel and they are using the residents of Gaza to protect arsenals of missiles.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli civilians remain under threat from Hamas and the other terror groups in Gaza. The IDF Blog reported that on Monday an Israeli boy was lightly wounded from shrapnel in a rocket attack.
Overall, more than 1,000 rockets have been fired at Israel since the military operation against Hamas began last week.
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, July 14, 2014)