In a harrowing testimony underscoring the brutality of Hamas, a Gaza resident revealed the shocking reality of life under the terrorist group’s control. According to a report shared by the IDF's Unit 504, which regularly engages in outreach to warn civilians, a resident of Jabaliya stated in no uncertain terms: “Hamas beats us with sticks, prevents us from evacuating, and forces us back into harm’s way from the humanitarian space.” This striking admission offers a glimpse into the calculated cruelty of Hamas, a group that has long been known to exploit its own population as human shields.
For over a year, the IDF has highlighted how Hamas consistently brutalizes its own citizens, employing coercion and intimidation to keep them in harm’s way while exploiting the world’s gaze. Despite mounting evidence — from recordings of phone calls, social media posts by Palestinians, and eyewitness accounts — much of the international community turns a blind eye to Hamas' atrocities.
🚨Gazan Resident: Hamas Is Beating Us With Sticks, Preventing Us From Evacuating, and Making Us Return From the Humanitarian Area.
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) October 14, 2024
In one conversation between an IDF representative and a Gazan civilian during the evacuation, the Gazan civilian described how Hamas forces were… pic.twitter.com/FbERxUUl2V
Just last week, with the start of operations by Israel's Division 162 in Jabaliya, the IDF once again called on residents to evacuate their homes, stressing the necessity for their safety. Yet, time and time again, Hamas forces civilians to remain in these dangerous areas, leveraging their presence as a shield to protect their terrorist operations from retaliatory strikes.
Hamas’ cynical strategy of using Gaza’s population as human shields is nothing new. It has become their signature move: launching rockets from residential areas, hiding weapons in schools, and placing missile launchers in densely populated neighborhoods. This practice has led to countless deaths of innocent bystanders, all sacrificed for Hamas’ twisted agenda. Their own leaders like the late Ismail Haniyeh have boasted about their usage of human shields, and yet, still, the international community ignores this, with some even calling it a "brilliant strategy".
Hamas: we use women and children as human shields
— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) October 14, 2024
Israel: Hamas uses women and children as human shields, we see it all the time
Propaganda for Leftists: Hamas is a humanitarian organization that would never use human shieldspic.twitter.com/cF1wxv5dCW
A chilling example of this came in July, when the IDF published an exposé on Hamas’ blatant war crimes. Photos and videos captured rockets being fired from civilian buildings, directly contradicting Hamas' attempts to paint themselves as the protectors of the Palestinian people. In one video, a civilian structure can clearly be seen next to a rocket launching site, while another photo shows civilians gathering on the roof of a terrorist’s home to act as human shields, attempting to prevent an IDF strike. Hamas’ propaganda machine encourages this behavior, urging Palestinians to embrace the role of human shields and turn their tragic circumstances into martyrdom for a twisted cause. They manipulate these people with flyers depicting masses of people on roof, accompanied by slogans like "A strong people," inscribed in Arabic, to incite them to further self-destruction (this articles lead image is a copy if this flier).
During previous operations, such as 2014’s Operation Protective Edge, evidence mounted of Hamas and other terror organizations deploying civilians as pawns in their deadly chess game. In one shocking case, Hamas brazenly fired rockets from humanitarian zones, such as UNRWA schools, while storing weapons among civilian populations. Their calculation is sinister but simple: the more civilian casualties, the more international condemnation of Israel.
Sam Harris on why Hamas is worse than Nazis: “There are many differences between Nazism and jihadism, of course. But they only make the Nazis look relatively benign….Nazis didn’t use their own women and children as human shields.”
— Richard Hanania (@RichardHanania) April 9, 2024
Moral clarity. pic.twitter.com/FUQokkeGxV
The IDF, aware of these tactics, has made every effort to minimize civilian casualties, calling for evacuations ahead of operations, as they did in Jabaliya. Despite these efforts, Hamas continues to block civilians from leaving, trapping them in a nightmare scenario where they must choose between the brutality of their oppressors and the terror of an ongoing military conflict. Some 200,000 residents managed to escape Jabaliya, yet countless others remain, terrified and unable to leave due to Hamas’ threats and intimidation.
In the midst of all this, the IDF continues to prioritize the safety of civilians. Troops have been seen going door-to-door, urging women and children to seek refuge in designated safe zones like UNRWA schools, and providing a safe passage wherever possible. Body cam footage from soldiers, regularly released to the foreign press, documents the lengths to which the IDF goes to protect non-combatants. Yet, despite these efforts, Hamas repeatedly subverts them, using every possible tool to endanger and sacrifice its own people in pursuit of their violent ambitions.
While Palestinians report that 80% of Gazan deaths were Hamas affiliated, here's why the rest were killed: They were exploited and abused as human shields for the terrorists.
— Pal Media Watch (@palwatch) October 13, 2024
Who is responsible? Both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. There's no difference. pic.twitter.com/pkByJQTuI2
Meanwhile, Hamas-controlled media has spread falsehoods about the IDF's operations, claiming that hospitals, such as the Kamal Adwan hospital, were being targeted. These claims, like many others, are designed to stoke fear and draw international condemnation. The truth, however, is far darker: Hamas itself has turned medical facilities into command centers, from which they launch attacks and coordinate terror operations. In one recent operation, the IDF successfully destroyed a Hamas command post concealed within a medical facility, eliminating 12 terrorists, three of whom were directly involved in the October 7 massacre last year.
As Hamas continues to tighten its grip on Gaza, the suffering of ordinary Palestinians only worsens. The tragic irony is that Hamas, which claims to stand for Palestinian liberation, is the very entity that oppresses and endangers them the most. The world can no longer ignore the crimes committed by this terrorist organization, and the brutal reality of life under its reign must be brought to light. While the international community debates, the people of Gaza remain trapped, their lives treated as mere collateral in Hamas’ never-ending war against Israel. The United Nations has failed the people of Gaza by refusing to confront Hamas and intervene to free the Palestinian poeple being used as Human Shields.
This moment really shocked me.
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) August 8, 2024
Early in the war, Israel asked the UN to help evacuate Palestinian civilians out of combat zones where Hamas was using them as human shields. The UN refused.
These agencies have blood on their hands. pic.twitter.com/TusV6Vl2mX
It is time for the world to acknowledge that Hamas, not Israel, is the true enemy of the Palestinian people. The IDF's tireless efforts to protect civilians and eliminate terrorism from within the Gaza Strip represent a necessary step toward peace and safety for both Israelis and Palestinians alike.
