Updated Analysis: At least 80 percent of Palestinian fatalities in Gaza “Return Marches” are terrorists

Updated Analysis: At least 80 percent of Palestinian fatalities in Gaza “Return Marches” are terrorists

In the spring and summer of 2018, the so-called Gaza “Return Marches” dominated the headlines.

Palestinians terror groups organized and coordinated attempts to breach Israel’s security fence, usually under cover of smoke from tire fires.

We covered the border assaults extensively, and demonstrated how the civilian protests were cover for terror attempts, as demonstrated by the unusually high percentage of terror group members among the casualties.

See our prior posts for images and video:

• After Hamas leader calls on crowd to become martyrs, hundreds surge Gaza-Israel border fence
• PHOTO: Gaza “protesters” loft molotov cocktail on swastika kite over Israeli border
• Palestinians complain Israel not allowing tires into Gaza … after Palestinians created toxic cloud of burning tires
• Swastika next to Palestinian flag in Gaza now symbol of ‘Great March of Return’
• Massive Palestinian tire burn pollutes Gaza, as attempts to breach Israel border fail
• 15 terrorists now identified among dead from last Gaza border clash, as Palestinians plan toxic tire fire
• PHOTOS: Most Palestinians killed at Gaza border clash were terrorists
• Israel: Photographer Yasser Murtaja killed near Gaza border was Hamas military operative
• Hamas Commander killed at Gaza border when ‘hand grenade’ exploded prematurely
• NY Times concludes Israel did not intentionally shoot medic Rouzan al-Najjar

The Return March protests continue, turned on and off by Hamas and other terror groups. They do not gain the media attention they once did, though people like Joe Truzman continue to report on the border storming and terror attempts.

In May 2018, the The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC) published the results of its investigagtion into the identities of Gazans killed at the border, Analysis of the Identities of Gazans Killed During the “Great Return March” (data as of April 25, 2018).

We covered the report and its implications in our post, Analysis: 80 percent of Gazans killed in Israel border clashes were terror group members:

The so-called Great March of Return held every Friday for the past four weeks at the Gaza-Israel border is falsely portrayed as a peaceful civilian protest by groups like Amnesty International. That false designation has led to claims that Israel is violating international law by using live fire against “protesters” who approach the border fence.

In fact, as we have documented weekly, the “protests” are actually military operations by Hamas and other terror groups using civilian protests as cover.

The purpose is to cut through, burn down, or pull down the border fence so that terrorists can infiltrate Israel to carry out operations. Even when the fence is not breached, explosives are placed next to the fence for later detonation….

A key piece of the evidence that these are not ordinary civilian protests is who has been killed at the fence. Overwhelmingly they have been military members of Hamas and other terror groups.

The ITIC has just released an updated report, again finding that 80 percent of those killed were terror group members:

Overview

The events of the “return marches” in the Gaza Strip have continued for 42 weeks. In most cases, these events are characterized by a high level of violence, resulting in casualties among the rioters, mainly among those in the front line confronting the IDF troops. According to the ITIC’s examination, based on reports of the Gaza Strip Ministry of Health in combination with other sources, since the beginning of the “return marches” on March 30, 2018, a total of 187 Palestinians were killed in those events. As for the identity of the fatalities (updated to January 16, 2019), 150 of them were found to be affiliated with Hamas or with other terrorist organizations (about 80%). Prominent among the fatalities are those belonging to Hamas or affiliated with it (96 fatalities, about 51% of the total number of fatalities). A total of 45 fatalities are operatives of the Hamas military wing (about 24% of the total number of fatalities, about 47% of the total of the Hamas fatalities).

The report discusses the methodology of researching the background on those killed:

Following are several methodological notes on the manner in which information on the
fatalities was collected and analyzed:

• The number of fatalities refers to fatalities in the “return marches” only. It does not include people who were killed in other events in the Gaza Strip which took place between the marches and were inspired by them.
• The information on the number of fatalities of the “return marches” is based on the Gaza Strip Health Ministry. Since the Health Ministry does not usually provide a breakdown of fatalities according to their organizational affiliation, this information was collected from various websites and social networks (mostly local networks in the Gaza Strip). There are various levels in the quality of information on which this  examination is based, ranging from solid information (formal statements of the organizations on the death of their operatives) to circumstantial information.
• Referring to the identity of the fatalities, distinction was made between operatives of the various organizations. Inside the organizations, distinction was made between clear operatives of the organization, mainly operatives of the military wings or securityservices, and other members only loosely connected to the organization.

The research also involved social media research as well as research into terror group death announcements and funerals. Here are a couple of examples from the report:

These findings represent a floor, not a ceiling. The 80 percent number represents those who have documented terror connections. The actual percentage of terror members may be much higher.

There undoubtedly have been some civilians killed, but the high percentage of terror members demonstrates that the civilians are human shields for terrorists. It also shows that Israel has not wantonly killed civilians, to the contrary, in large crowds obscured by smoke, Israel has managed to find the terrorists.

That is not the media narrative. But it’s the truth.

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