The confrontation at the Gaza-Israel border during the so-called “Great Return March” last Friday reportedly resulted in 18 deaths of Palestinians, at least 11 of whom have been identified as Hamas, Islamic Jihad or other terror military members. When more information becomes known, it is likely to result in all or almost all of the dead being terrorists.
See my prior post for details, PHOTOS: Most Palestinians killed at Gaza border clash were terrorists.
It’s clear that the Great Return March was not a protest, as it’s described in western media, but a military operation using a protest as cover to try to slip terror cells through the border fence. All of the arguments about how Israel supposedly used excessive force on “protesters” ignore that this was a military operation by Hamas and Israel was entitled to respond accordingly.
As we have seen in the past, such as in the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, it takes only a small terror team to slip into Israel to do great damage. And there is video of Hamas trying to do exactly that as the “protest” created a distraction.
Hamas is being criticized by other Palestinians for having publicly acknowledged that 5 of its military members were killed, as that damaged the narrative of the event.
Despite hugely inflated claims that Israel “shot” over 700 people, it has become clear that Israel targeted a small number of terror operatives from among the huge crowd of nearly 30,000 people. As experience journalist Zev Chafets points out, Hamas was surprised by this tactic:
For decades, Hamas has tried and failed to defeat Israel through conventional military means. Lately its effort has been increasingly frustrated. Hamas rockets get shot down by the Iron Dome missile defense system. Attack tunnels are discovered and destroyed. Individual suicide bombers are killed or thwarted by sophisticated security measures.The march unveiled a new tactic, mass swarming, designed to force Israeli troops at the border to commit mass killings or flee — a win-win from the Hamas perspective. It didn’t work that way on Friday.But the IDF forces personally commanded by Chief of Staff General Gadi Eisenkot, used snipers to pick off individual leaders in the putatively civilian crowd (at least five of the dead were later identified as Hamas soldiers)….
Hamas is planning another assault on the border fence, but it’s taking precautions to prevent its members from being picked out among the crowds.
The first tactic is to create an environmental disaster in the form of a huge tire burn. These images from social media show the preparations. Khaled Abu Toameh at the Times of Israel reports:
Israel’s Hadashot TV news also reported Tuesday that Gazans were piling up thousands of tires to burn near the border in another mass protest planned for Friday, in order to create black smoke which would hinder IDF snipers. Marchers were also being told to carry mirrors to angle at and thus dazzle the snipers.
This image shows the Hamas fantasy of a sea of tires to burn:
The second tactic is for Hamas members to cover their faces to prevent being identified.
Abu Toameh further reports (h/t Daniel Rubenstein Twitter):
Hamas on Tuesday published what it called “security recommendations” to its members on how to avoid being targeted by Israeli army snipers along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel.The new directive came following the killing of at least five members of Hamas’s military wing during last Friday’s violent events near the border.The recommendations advise Hamas members on a number of methods to conceal their identity. These include wearing masks, camouflaging their face with crayon, and covering their entire head with a keffiyeh.Hamas members are also advised not to carry cellular phones in the areas of the clashes, not to stay in one place for too long, not to wear white clothes or clothes with standout colors, and to be on alert for any suspicious movements within the demonstrations.
[Image via PalInfo Twitter]
[Featured Image: Shebab Agency on Twitter]
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