Blood on the tracts
Hamas tome bares ‘civilian-death plan’
They’re putting their own people in the line of fire — and doing it by the book.
The Israeli military said it has captured a Hamas manual on urban warfare — called “Introduction to the City War” — that extols the benefits of civilian deaths and openly admits that Israel tries to avoid them.
The Israel Defense Forces also said the manual — whose cover shows images of militants wielding rocketpropelled grenades and automatic weapons — crows about the propaganda value of the deaths of innocents.
“The destruction of civilian homes: This increases the hatred of the citizens toward the attackers and increases their gathering around [to support] the city defenders,” the manual said, according to the IDF.
The manual, which came from the Shuja’iya Brigade of Hamas’ military wing, also explained how heavily populated urban areas — called “pockets of resistance” — make operations for the IDF difficult because Israeli soldiers try not to harm civilians.
“The soldiers and [IDF] commanders must limit their use of weapons and tactics that lead to the harm and unnecessary loss of people and [destruction of ] civilian facilities,” the manual said, according to the IDF.
“It is difficult for them to get the most use out of their firearms, especially of supporting fire [e.g. artillery].”
Israel has repeatedly charged during the nearly monthlong conflict that Hamas exploits civilians as human shields — a claim apparently borne out by the seized manual.
The IDF, while releasing two pages of the booklet, said it was significant that it came from the Shuja’iya Brigade
“The IDF fought a major battle in the neighborhood of Shuja’iya, which had been turned into a terrorist stronghold. The discovery of this manual suggests that the destruction in Shuja’iya was always part of Hamas’ plan,” said the IDF’s official blog.
Meanwhile, Israel said it withdrew the last of its ground forces from Gaza Tuesday as part of an Egyptbrokered, 72hour ceasefire. If the calm holds, it would be the longest lull in the fighting, which has killed nearly 1,900 Palestinians and 67 Israelis.
Israel said its troops had destroyed 32 crossborder tunnels built for attacks inside Israel.
Hamas fired some 3,300 rockets and mortar rounds at Israel during the hostilities, and Israeli forces destroyed another 3,000 rockets on the ground.