How did Hamas fighters operate during their recent war with Israel? Have you ever wondered why you rarely saw Hamas fighters in action? And why do you think a one sided picture of the conflict often emerged in the media? Ely Karmon, a Senior Research Scholar at the International Institute for Counter Terrorism just published some of his analysis. Here are some of his conclusions that help explain the recent conflict:
"... it is difficult to understand the real picture of the battles which raged during two weeks in Gaza because:
1. Hamas did and does everything to hide its human shield strategy modus operandi:
- The correspondents of the Arab TV's present in the Strip and hundreds of Palestinian photographs trained by Western press agencies and journals somehow never saw or reported from where hundreds of missiles where fired on Israeli territory
- Hamas fighters either escaped in their tunnels or changed to civil clothes, thus giving the impression that IDF was fighting the civil population
- The vast majority of the visual materials published by the media and especially the ones at the entrance of the hospitals showed children and women, but not young or middle age persons who could be identified as fighters
- Hamas did not publish the names of their dead fighters, did not show their burials and forbade the foreign media present in Gaza to report about it. At the end of the war they admitted having only 48 casualties
2. During and after the war, people in Gaza are afraid to speak openly about Hamas' fighting and to point the finger to the real culprits:
- It is clear from the interviews of the Western media that people are afraid to speak openly
- uring the war and even after the war there is witch hunting of Fatah and other opposition groups' militants, including the assassination or execution of dozens of them, accused of "treason" or collaboration with Israel
If you would like to see more information on this conflict, Karmon recommends the following website of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at: http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/site/home/default.asp.