In trying to push back against Hamas propaganda, the Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday released videos illustrating how Hamas used schools and homes as a “terrorist stronghold.”
“Hamas continues to exploit civilian infrastructure as a terrorist hub. Al-Shati is one of many areas where schools and civilian buildings are used to launch rockets, store weapons and carry out attacks against the IDF,” the IDF posted on X.
In the video, an Israeli officer identified as Commander of the 932nd Battalion LTC. Dotan calls the ruined neighborhood an area full of “seemingly innocent places like schools and kindergartens, educational institutions.”
“In reality, this area is a terrorist stronghold,” he said.
“An area with swing sets and carousels, that on paper seems simple and innocent, but in practice, shooting is carried out from here,” he said.
“This entire area constitutes one network belonging to the enemy. [The terrorists] operate using their underground tunnel network in the direction of the kindergartens and schools,” he said.
Weapons were everywhere inside one kindergarten.
“There was an operational situation room inside the principal’s office in which they oversaw combat and operated their entire system,” he said. “Many weapons were found here, right here, in this place.”
The next stops on the tour of terror were a basement under a civilian’s house where weapons were made and a school where the IDF found weapons and which had to be cleared of terrorists shooting at IDF forces.
As he walked inside the school, he explained that “countless terrorists were located here in this area, right inside the classrooms. This is a terrorist gathering spot.”
Dotan noted that from a nearby apartment building, Hamas would alert terrorists in the school to IDF movements. The IDF video shows a weapons cache in the basement of a civilian dwelling.
“This is a cynical use of civilian areas. This is how the terrorists operate,” he said.
“The IDF entered this area after we evacuated the entire civilian population. What ends up happening is all these posts in schools and kindergartens and all the seemingly innocent areas were, in practice, terrorist strongholds. They left us no choice but to fight within civilian areas,” he said.
The video closed with a stark message: “When Hamas terrorists transform civilian areas into terrorist strongholds, what choice are we left with?”
“Who stores RPG missiles, anti-tank missiles, explosive devices, long-range missiles, grenades and UAVs at a school and a medical facility in Gaza? The answer: Hamas. Hamas doesn’t hide their terrorism. Stop excusing it,” the IDF posted on X.
On its Telegram channel, the IDF put the Twitter post into context, writing, “One of the largest weapons depots in the Gaza Strip was found near a clinic and school in the northern Gaza Strip.”
“The depot contained hundreds of RPG missiles and launchers of various types, dozens of anti-tank missiles, dozens of explosive devices, long-range missiles aimed at central Israel, dozens of grenades and UAVs,” the IDF posted.
“All of the terrorist infrastructure was found close to civilian buildings in the heart of a civilian population. This is additional proof of Hamas’ cynical use of the residents of the Gaza Strip as human shields,” the post said.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.