Hamas Seeks To Cause Civilian Casualties

Yesterday, Palestinian militants fired 20 rockets at civilian targets throughout the Western Negev, with direct hits on the Israeli port cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon. A chemical plant in Ashdod went up in flames. However, Israeli security sources denied that the Ashdod plant had been hit by Hamas fire.

The Israel Air Force (IAF) attacked 60 targets in Gaza Tuesday, including rocket launching sites, arms depots and about 30 tunnels. In Gaza’s Sajaiya neighborhood, the air force hit a cell of Palestinian mortar operators. In total, the IAF and Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) ground troops attacked eight cells of armed men.

According to Israeli security establishment sources, the IDF is stepping up pressure on Hamas and the pace of bombings.

The IDF’s operational activities on the ground has also been expanded, but its troops are advancing cautiously in order to avoid Palestinian civilian casualties.

Israel complained to the U.N. secretary-general, Ban Ki-Moon, about Hamas’ use of human shields in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Ambassador Gabriela Shalev wrote to the secretary-general informing him of Hamas’ activities, while shooting from mosques, schools, homes and hospitals. Ambassador Shalev noted Israel had been employing all possible measures to avoid deliberately harming civilians and emphasized that Hamas’ responsibility for harming them.

At the same time, Mr. Ban started his visit to the region yesterday with a meeting with Egyptian President Mubarak. He will also visit Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait and Turkey.

Meanwhile, it was reported that the U.N. General Assembly plans to convene a special session today to discuss the situation in Gaza. The session was requested by the Non-Aligned Movement, a bloc that numbers 118 countries.

Hamas Leadership Uses Hospital For HQ

The Israeli security establishment has determined Gaza’s Shifa hospital has served a dual role, with Hamas’ leadership operating a makeshift headquarters from inside.

From their Shifa hospital headquarters, Hamas commanders are issuing orders, paying salaries and discussing war strategy, using the offices of hospital administrators.

“Shifa Hospital, which is situated in the more wealthy western part of Gaza City, is a very big hospital, but you can hear from the Palestinians who visit there – it is somewhat of an open secret – that Hamas commanders walk around the hospital, in some instances wearing doctors’ robes,” Israeli Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said. “In some cases the Hamas commanders kick medical teams out of rooms so that they can hold meetings.”

On Jan. 12, Mr. Dichter, a former director of the Israel Security Agency, said Hamas has used the hospital as its headquarters to avoid being targeted by Israel’s military. The hospital is the largest in the Gaza Strip.

”On Saturday, Jan. 10, which is the day salaries are distributed in Gaza, several Hamas commanders who cannot come out of their hiding places were given their salaries at their hiding places,” Mr. Dichter said in a radio interview. “But those commanders who can move around Gaza made their way to Shifa Hospital to receive their salaries.”

Hamas leaders are also using other hospitals as well as United Nations clinics and schools as weapons bunkers and shelters. They said some Hamas leaders were hiding in unidentified foreign missions in Gaza City.

“U.N. schools in Gaza long ago stopped being just schools,” Mr. Dichter said. “All these services and places are refuge for Hamas terrorists and commanders… Shifa is in the middle of a very crowded area in Gaza, and you would have to get through half-a-million Gazans to get to the hospital and arrest Hamas people there.

“So that’s not doable. Striking the hospital is out of the question for obvious reasons. So in this case we have to just bite our lips.”

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com