Hamas again using (their own people as) human shields in Gaza

Hamas continues to use Gazan civilians as human shields by building its terrorist infrastructure in densely populated civilian areas, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday, sharing evidence of the Islamist group’s facilities located near medical clinics, schools and U.N. buildings.

“Hamas infrastructure is deliberately embedded within civilian areas and in proximity to international assets, using the population as human shields,” said the report by the IDF International Cooperation Division.

“In order to mitigate harm to noncombatants, the IDF carries out surgical strikes,” it added.

The report included aerial maps of Gaza City’s Rimal residential neighborhood, showing Hamas facilities in or near commercial buildings, pharmacies, welfare offices, mosques and other public facilities.

Hamas’s well-documented use of its own civilians as human shields, as well as its use of mosques, hospitals, schools and private homes as weapons storage facilities and firing platforms, violates international humanitarian law.

Source: IDF International Cooperation Division.

The Israel Defense Forces continued to pound Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday as the war sparked by the Palestinian terrorist group’s brutal Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish state entered its fourth day.

The military said it struck the shaft of a tunnel and other assets Hamas used to penetrate Israeli territory on Saturday and indiscriminately butcher at least 900 Israeli men, women and children.

Israel Air Force fighter jets also struck a mosque containing a Hamas operations and command center used to coordinate this weekend’s Iran-backed attack. The air force also carried out “widespread” strikes on weapons depots and other terrorist infrastructure.

As of 7 a.m. Tuesday, the IDF had conducted five waves of airstrikes in Gaza, attacking more than 1,500 terrorist targets, including attack tunnels, rocket launching sites, and command and control centers.

More than 400 Hamas terrorists have been killed inside the Gaza Strip so far, the report noted.

This is in addition to an estimated terrorist 1,500 terrorists slain inside Israel since Saturday.

IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht on Tuesday urged Gazans to leave the Strip immediately amid the intensifying war with Hamas.

Hecht’s warning came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night vowed that “every place in which Hamas hides will become a city of ruins.

“This war was forced upon us by a despicable enemy, human animals celebrating the murder of women, children and the elderly,” the prime minister said in an address to the nation.

“I have trouble believing that Hamas has set itself up for total annihilation by Israel. I fear that something else is in the works.”

Iran is making a move.
I suspect it is coordinated with Russia and China.

Iran wants something. Maybe to come out as a nuke state? and THE power in the ME.

Russia wants eyes off of Ukraine, focus, $$, and Mil gear to go anyplace else than Ukraine.

China wants to see if US/EU backs Israel with direct support. and also to draw their attention.

IF US/EU do NOT intervene in Israel, they KNOW we are not going to do anything except a “harshly worded memo” when they invade Taiwan.

My forecast.

After Hamas Strike, Congress Wants to Sanction Terror Group’s Use of Human Shields. But Legislation Is On Ice Until New Speaker is Elected.

Adam Kredo
October 10, 2023
House lawmakers on Tuesday introduced legislation to sanction the Iran-backed terror group Hamas for its use of human shields, but the critical legislation is destined to remain on ice until the Republican-controlled chamber can settle on a new speaker.

The bipartisan initiative represents the first congressional bid to hold the militant group accountable for its weekend slaughter of Israeli citizens, and underscores the paralysis caused by last week’s ouster of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Led by Reps. Mike Gallagher (R., Wis.) and Brad Sherman (D., Calif.), the bill would expand the White House’s power to sanction Hamas’s top leaders, as well as those affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, another Iranian-backed terror group operating in Lebanon, according to a copy of the measure obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

While the bipartisan bill is certain to attract widespread support as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle rally around Israel, it cannot be taken up by the House until a new speaker is selected. The situation will delay any action on one of the first pieces of legislation to crack down on Middle East terror groups following Hamas’s weekend attack on Israel that caught the Jewish state off guard and left more than a thousand dead and many more missing. It targets a key pillar of Hamas’s war fighting strategy, which focuses on embedding militants in heavily populated civilian areas and using them as cannon fodder. Hamas expanded this tactic during its siege on Israel, when it intentionally targeted and took hostage children, women, and elderly Israelis.

“The horrific Hamas attacks on Israel demonstrate that groups like Hamas, Hizballah, and the Palestine Islamic Jihad have always been dedicated to destroying Israel and combating American interests in the Middle East,” Gallagher, a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told the Free Beacon. “Of all the malign activities of these groups, few are more reprehensible or dangerous than their use of civilians as human shields.”

The legislation builds on a 2018 measure also pushed by Gallagher that authorized broad sanctions on terror groups that use human shields. The Biden administration is not fully enforcing that law, leading Gallagher and his colleagues to push a revamped version that goes further.

The latest measure extends the length of sanctions on these groups from 2023 to 2030 and gives Congress the power to force the administration into leveling economic penalties on those leading and supporting the various terror groups. It also would require the president to justify in writing any decision to waive sanctions or skirt their imposition.

“By reforming the [2018] Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act and giving Congress a greater role in ensuring these critical sanctions are implemented, this bipartisan legislation sends a clear signal that the United States will severely punish this behavior,” Gallagher said.

The bill specifically addresses Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel, noting that those taken hostage by the group are effectively being used as human shields. It also addresses the terror group’s decision to embed rocket launchers and weapons caches in densely populated areas throughout the Gaza Strip. Hamas does this to ensure Israeli forces unintentionally kill civilians.

“Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other groups that cynically exploit civilians as human shields are responsible for the deaths of countless Israelis and Palestinian civilians alike,” Sherman said in a statement, adding that the bill will make “certain that the United States will hold terrorists accountable for their use of this disgraceful tactic.”
https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/after-hamas-strike-congress-wants-to-sanction-terror-groups-use-of-human-shields/

One pundit compared it to the Tet offensive. North Vietnam pushed the Viet Cong to attack and then watched as they were destroyed as a fighting force. That left the NVA to run the war.

I see other issues at play:

1. Israel is expending a lot of fuel and ammo already.

2. Jets are not like cars, they require periodic inspections and certain components only have a specific life span (in flight hours) before they require changing.

3. 300,000 recalled Reservists is going to be a major strain on the Israeli economy. The land war will start soon because Israel cannot keep that many people on active duty for a long period of time.

4. The strain on the Israel military may weaken it as a fighting force even over the short term. It may leave Israel vulnerable. A month from now if this is still going on, I would be worried that Hezbollah and foreign Islamists will begin coordinated attacks on Israel via the West Bank and Lebanon.

5. While Israel is busy killing off Hamas, Iran is free to finish its nuclear weapons program.

Gaza is relatively small and a target rich environment. Israel may not need a long protracted fight to clear out Hamas. One possible miscalculation on Hamas' part would be the total war Israel is launching. Hamas may have thought based on Israel's previous responses and the large number of hostages that Israel would hit Gaza, vent their revenge and then negotiate for the hostages. It appears from the outside looking in that the Israeli leadership has written off at least the adult hostages and there will be total war. I am sure in Israel, smarter people than me have already discussed this attack being a feint to divert Israel's attention before a larger attack from the North and West begins.

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