Israel war: IDF will not allow human shields to protect Hamas
by Joel Gehrke, Foreign Affairs Reporter
October 13, 2023 04:01 PM
Hamas will continue to use "human shields” in Gaza, according to U.S. and Israeli officials, but those Palestinian civilians will not protect the terrorists from the Israel Defense Forces.
“We make phone calls to alert them that a strike will be carried out if we know that there are civilians in the area, and we do many other measures,” IDF Lt. Col. Amnon Shefler said this week. “Sadly, there are times that we cannot and yet — that is because it's a time-critical target, or for other reasons that we need to carry out a strike without using those very high amount of efforts that are put into making sure that as [few] as possible civilians are hurt, injured, and of course, hopefully not killed.”
Israeli military officials have warned the civilian population of northern Gaza to flee south of the Gaza River, a week after an unprecedented Hamas terrorist attack that has been described by U.S. officials as worse than “ISIS-level savagery”. That evacuation order, which the IDF distributed by leaflet, audio, and social media, drew the endorsement of U.S. officials who credited the Israelis with giving “fair warning” to the civilians at risk of being caught in the crossfire.
“They're trying to move civilians out of harm's way and giving them fair warning,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told CNN on Friday. “What they’re trying to do is to the maximum extent possible avoid civilian casualties and also separate Hamas from the civilians. Hamas actually gave a counterorder, telling Palestinians in Gaza to stay at home. Why? Because having human shields, they think, protects them.”
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/israel-war-idf-will-human-shields-protect-hamas
