IDF ground forces operating in the Gaza Strip uncovered an explosive device attached to a timer that Hamas terrorists had hidden in a school.  The explosives were extended by a cable to an adjacent zoo some few dozen meters away.  [Isranet photo]

The 81-page report, compiled by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, was released last week, just days before the Israeli army shelled a United Nations school in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of some 40 Palestinians.

An Israeli army spokesperson said that Hamas fighters, having barricaded themselves inside the school, fired mortar rounds at Israeli troops, prompting Israel to return the fire. The United Nations denied that Hamas personnel had been in the school.

The report was completed during the first week of Operation Cast Lead, launched by Israel on Dec. 27 after Hamas broke a six-month truce and fired a barrage of rockets and mortars into Israel.

Prepared with the assistance of the Israel Defence Force’s Advocate General’s Corps, the report says that Hamas has made “calculated” and “cynical” use of Palestinian civilians so as to sway     public opinion in Gaza and blacken Israel’s image in the international community.

The centre, located north of Tel Aviv and headed by a retired Israeli colonel named Reuven Erlich, accuses Hamas of deliberately having established its military infrastructure in and around residential areas and eight densely populated refugee camps in Gaza, which is home to 1.5 million Palestinians.

Hamas’ use of human shields was inspired by Hezbollah’s tactics in Lebanon during the 2006 war. As the report states, “Hamas and other terrorist organizations copied and developed Hezbollah’s warfare doctrine, which is based on exploiting the civilian population as human shields.”

It adds, “Using civilians as human shields is a war crime, a grave breach of the laws of armed conflict and a crime against humanity.”

Charging that Hamas has fired Qassam rockets and mortar shells at Israeli civilians from private homes, schools, mosques and hospitals, the centre says, “The rocket launching squads deliberately situate their launchers near houses to camouflage themselves and to protect themselves from the Israel Defence Forces. The attacks carried out by the terrorists only disrupt the daily lives of the Palestinian population and endanger them.”

According to the centre, Hamas used similar tactics when the Israeli army raided Gaza in March 2008 and in October 2006.

It goes on to say that the Palestinians have paid a heavy price for Hamas’ policy, which has turned civilians into virtual hostages and forced them into a situation of “unending combat” with Israel.

Citing a “fundamental contradiction” between the needs of Palestinian civilians and Hamas policies, the centre points out that Hamas has continually attacked Israeli crossing points, thereby interrupting the flow of food, water, medical supplies and petroleum into Gaza.

In addition, Hamas has targeted a nearby power plant in Ashkelon that provides Gaza with two-thirds of its electricity.

Justifying Israel’s bombing of the Islamic University on Dec. 28, the centre says it housed a weapons research facility in which long-range rockets for use against Israel were developed.

The centre also claims that the majority of the workshops that manufacture rockets are in densely populated neighbourhoods.

“Situating them in the heart of the civilian population endangers the welfare of local residents, both because of ‘work accidents’ and because it exposes them to possible IDF attacks.”

As well, the centre says, the extensive system of arms smuggling tunnels were built in urban settings, thereby exposing civilians to Israeli bombing raids.

And in contravention of international law and moral principles, Hamas has recruited children for operational missions, the report states.

In summation, the centre says, “Hamas’ violent and deliberate attacks against Israeli civilians and civilian objects is accompanied by [its] equally callous disregard for the safety of Palestinian civilians… in Gaza.

“By launching attacks from within the confines of densely populated areas, by storing missiles and rocket launchers under mosques and homes, by using university facilities and other protected places to develop weapons and explosives, Hamas systematically abuses the protections afforded to civilians and civilian objects under international law, while placing the safety and welfare of these civilians at great risk.”