Tuesday, January 13, 2009

How Hamas uses its own people as human shields

A captured Hamas map of a Gaza City neighborhood shows how the terrorist group plants powerful explosives in highly populated areas to increase casualties among its own civilians, as Israel Defense Forces Lt. Barak Raz explains.



More details on this video from the IDF's YouTube channel:

"Hamas turn a Gaza neighborhood into a warzone. This map, confiscated Wednesday (Jan. 7) by IDF paratroopers operating in the north of Gaza, shows how Hamas uses an entire neighborhood, rigging it with explosive devices and putting the entire civilian population at great risk. The map shows the al-Tatraa neighborhood in Gaza City divided into three areas of operation (red, blue and green). The dots on the map indicate where Hamas operatives had planted a variety of IEDs (improvised explosive devices), with the colors indicating the type of IED. Additional marks show sniper positions next to mosques. Next to the entrance of the el-Tawid mosque near to Shauuda Plaza at the top left of the map there is a sniper posting with marking indicating the direction of fire marked on the map. At the bottom center of the map there is a gas station where Hamas planted an IED which, if activated, could cause a very large explosion throughout the neighborhood. An overall study of the map demonstrates how Hamas deliberately uses civilians, using them as live targets and hiding behind them; they plant IEDs at the entrances of homes, they booby trap homes and they use places of worship, all with no regard to collateral damage or civilian lives."