There is a phrase "human shield" that appears to be banned on this thread so much that after more than 7,000 posts no one has ever mentioned it. Its a big part of the debate. I just wondered what people's take was on it. Its surprising that it is not being discussed at all. Is the phrase just pure Israeli propoganda or is it some part of Hamas' military strategy.
The phrase "human shield" here is a bit Israeli propaganda-ish.
The first thing to consider is that Gaza is a similar size and population density to east London. With that many people crammed into such a small area there's not enough space to spread things out. In my town the Territoral Army barracks is squashed between a children's playground and residential housing - does that mean the British army is using human shields?
Then there's the IDF's tendency over the past couple of decades to drop big bombs on anything Hamas related. If Hamas placed themselves neatly away from anything civilian related they'd all have been killed long ago.
To avoid being blown apart Hamas have dug those 400km of tunnels under Gaza to hide in. Will some of those tunnels go under or near civilian stuff? Undoubtedly.
The question is whether Hamas have deliberately put command centres under or near particularly sensitive locations like schools and hospitals? The IDF have been saying they have for decades, every time they blow up a school or hospital. Hamas have always denied it. Doctors, teachers and UN workers have always denied it. I find it far fetched that Hamas have been hiding weapon stashes under operating tables in hospitals and holding hostages in school halls, with the connivance of doctors, teachers and the UN.
I am open to the idea that there may be important points and entrances in their tunnel network under or near particularly sensitive locations. Hamas have shown themselves willing to invite thousands of Palestinian deaths by their actions on more than one occasion. This is why I was so quick to watch the IDF video released a couple of days ago which was claimed to be actual evidence of an actual Hamas command centre in the basement of the children's hospital. And it was complete bollocks. The spoof video posted this morning was almost as believable. Dan Hagari was claiming a toilet was terrorist infrastructure ffs.
Then today hundreds of troops have been crawling all over a major hospital - supposedly carefully targeted and acting on specific intelligence - which they claimed contains the beating heart of Hamas. And what did they find? Assuming they didn't plant anything (which the IDF do have form for): ten guns, a few grenades, a couple of flak jackets and... is that a couple of cans of WD40? I've got a can of WD40 in my cupboard - am I harbouring terrorist infrastructure? They're in the middle of a warzone. Of course there's guns about. Hardly the beating heart of Hamas.
I'm still not closed to the idea the IDF might find some command centre under a hospital or something, but so far they've completed failed to back up their claims. Is it possible that the IDF have come to believe their own propaganda? That they spun this story to excuse bombing hospitals because they just don't give a fuck about Palestinian lives and have repeated it so often that they now think it's true? That they genuinely believe in their heads that a baby bottle in a children's hospital is proof that hostages have been held there? That the presence of a chair is somehow nefarious? Or is it all just mindgames to distract the world while they drive the Gazans off their land?
No-one has banned the phrase "human shield", but using it does come from framing the situation in a specific way. And there’s not many people on the thread who are signed up to that way of thinking.