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I Saw How Hamas Was Embedded in Gaza's Civilian Population

(Times of Israel) Natan Kohn-Magnus - American political commentator Jon Stewart is an intelligent and caring person, but in his latest monologue on the current war in Gaza he critiques Israel's "incessant bombing of civilians." I served in the IDF's 5th reserve infantry brigade, spending nearly a month and a half inside Gaza. During the fighting, I spent time in nearly 20 different buildings. In nearly every location, we found Palestinian terror infrastructure, from assault rifles and ammunition to grenades, explosives, and mines, detailed intelligence maps (including of Israeli targets), uniforms, and propaganda. Then there is the underground infrastructure, tunnels used to fire rockets indiscriminately at Israel (often landing inside Gaza, killing Palestinian civilians) and to house Israeli hostages. The extent to which Hamas is embedded in civilian infrastructure is truly unprecedented. Facing this reality, and given Hamas' brutal attack, Israel has been forced to systematically dismantle Gaza's terror network - tunnels that go under hospitals and schools, launch sites from mosques, weapons caches in children's bedrooms. The blood of each civilian death is on Hamas' hands for forcing Israel into a war of no-choice and then cowering behind its human shields. In this context, the IDF's actions are not indiscriminate but unavoidable. The reality remains that the current fighting is, in the words of former U.S. army general David Petraeus, the "most fiendishly difficult and challenging urban operation since 1945." This context cannot be ignored.
2024-03-01 00:00:00
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