Palestinian supporters of the Palestinian Democratic Youth Union hold up bundles representing children dead as a result of the conflict in Gaza, while others wave Palestinian flags and toy guns, during a protest against violence against Palestinian children in the context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, in front of the UN building in Beirut, Lebanon, 21 July 2014. EPA
New York - In a OpEd posted by CNN former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren says Hamas mounts a sophisticated media and military campaign that puts its own people at risk.
Read below his full editorial.
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The displacement, injury, and death of civilians in war is always tragic, and the current fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is no exception. But unlike the vast majority of conflicts in history, Operation Protective Edge, as Israel calls it, is one in which images of civilian suffering play a central—and potentially decisive—role in the outcome.
And the reason is simple: More than a military strategy, Hamas has a media strategy. Calculatingly, Hamas employs primitive military tactics to mount a sophisticated media campaign that can threaten Israel’s basic security. And in conducting that offensive, Hamas can count on one of the world’s most powerful weapons: the international media.
Hamas fires hundreds of rockets at Israeli cities and towns and tries to attack Israeli farms via the sea and through tunnels. Thanks to Israeli technology and vigilance, few of these actions have inflicted extensive damage. Still, they disrupt Israeli life, impair the economy, and leave cumulative psychological scars.
Hamas fires hundreds of rockets at Israeli cities and towns and tries to attack Israeli farms via the sea and through tunnels. Thanks to Israeli technology and vigilance, few of these actions have inflicted extensive damage. Still, they disrupt Israeli life, impair the economy, and leave cumulative psychological scars.
