My Brother's Keeper: Month 2, Week 2, Day 3.

Overnight the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) resumed offensive operations and expanded its operation around the towns of Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia and Jabalia which are all located between Gaza City and the border with Israel.

In doing this Israel seems to have made it clear that it intends to conduct its ground operation in Gaza by breaking the area into small sections and then dealing with those sections one at a time. This is in complete contrast to the way Israel conducted Operation Cast Lead in 2008/9 when they deployed troops across the entire Gaza Strip pretty much overnight. The advantage of this new way of doing things is that it allows civilians to move away from combat areas to the large areas where there is no fighting.

In order to enable civilians to avoid the combat area yesterday evening the IDF dropped leaflets, sent SMS text messages and made hundreds of phone calls informing local residents which areas were going to come under attack and instructing them to seek shelter in central Gaza City. The IDF then began the offensive by subjecting the area to several hours of parachute flares. Despite CNN and other correspondents attempting to convince us that this was the most terrifying sight they'd ever seen in their lives parachute flares are generally quite harmless. Essentially they're just strontium nitrate flares that you can buy at any decent sporting goods store attached to a little parachute allowing them to fall slowly to the ground as they light up the night sky. They are most certainly not white phosphorus shells which burn much brighter and explode with a more star-burst type effect.

The reason why the IDF spent several hours firing flares was to make it quite clear to everybody on the ground exactly what area they were going to be moving into. In military terms this is restraint to the point of suicide because it completely removes the element of surprise that an attacking force relies upon. As one IDF spokesman put it in order to minimise civilian casualties the IDF is effectively setting its own troops up for ambushes by telling Hamas fighters long in advance where they are going to be attacked. Hamas responded to this warning by instructing civilians to remain in their homes and not attempt to leave the area "for their own safety."

Needless to say one of the first targets that was struck when the IDF began using live ammunition was the headquarters of the Al-Asqa TV and Radio channels. Despite what they like to claim journalists have no special protections other then being civilians during war time although there is something of an unofficial understanding that they are not to be attacked. Al-Asqa though is run by Fathi Hamed who is a senior Hamas commander meaning that it is very much the propaganda arm of Hamas which throughout this conflict has been spewing out a constant stream of lies particularly about the UNRWA school/shelter in Beit Hanoun and the Islamic Jihad rockets that struck the al-Shifa hospital and al-Shati refugee camp yesterday. It has also been ordering Gazan residents to ignore IDF warnings and remain in areas that are about to come under attack. As such it seems to have been a legitimate military target that was struck to take the TV and Radio channels off air in order to minimise the risk to civilians in Gaza.

Another notable target of the day has been the fuel depot for the power plant on the outskirts of Gaza City. This was struck by tank fire which set it well ablaze putting Gaza's only power plant out of action. As Hamas draw their power from this plant it is a legitimate military target and one of the first targets struck in both Cast Lead and Operation Summer Rain in 2006. However again the fact that Israel is allowed to do something doesn't necessarily mean that they should. In the short term the decommissioning of this power plant which provides roughly two thirds of Gaza's electricity will make it increasingly difficult for local hospitals to operate which Israel will get slammed for internationally. In the longer term it will deprive Gazan civilians of electricity and by extension clean water and sewage removal for many months to come. This will make them extremely angry and as they get more angry they will look towards Hamas to become ever more militant or overthrow Hamas entirely in favour of more extreme Salafi groups.

I think what tipped the balance in favour of attacking the power plant is that it immediately created scenes that are almost identical to scenes currently seen in Tripoli, Libya. Here a fuel depot has been ablaze since Sunday (27/7/14) after being hit by rockets fired as part of weeks of violence. That violence has of course killed hundreds of civilians and forced nations including the US and the UK to order their citizens to flee the country. However no-one seems to be batting an eyelid suggesting that the World only cares about dead civilians when it can be blamed on the Jews.

My problem with this is that Libya is very much part of the Gulf Monarchies led by Saudi Arabia and Qatar's response to the so-called Arab Spring. Essentially when Tunisia and Egypt overthrew their dictators the Gulf Monarchs saw an opportunity to dominate the region so put pressure on their western allies led by the US and the UK to declare war on Libya and Syria in order to install puppet governments. This is clearly something that Saudi Arabia and the Qataris are trying to do in Palestine so reminding the western powers - particularly the US - that they are beholden to the Gulf Monarchies is more likely to increase the pressure on Israel rather then reduce it. In fact I think this has been a contributing factor in the European Union's (EU) decision to impose new sanctions on Russia today. Ukraine is of course a knock-on effect of the conflict in Syria. I am though very much looking forward to Barack Obama once again trying to lecture us all on the difference between tactics and strategy.

Also today details of exactly happened at Nahal Oz yesterday have been declassified. What happened is that five Hamas fighters emerged from a tunnel and opened fire on IDF troops killing five. The IDF returned fire killing one Hamas fighter. As the four other Hamas fighters fled back down the tunnel they attempted to drag the body of one of the dead IDF soldiers with them in an attempt to make it look as though he had been kidnapped or simply to deny his family the comfort of a funeral. Fortunately they were prevented from doing this.

It has also emerged that the tunnel used stretches back to the al-Wafa hospital. This is the hospital that the IDF have repeatedly been accused of attacking as if it were evidence of a war crime. Under the laws of war (Chapter 3, 1st Geneva Convention, 1864) medical facilities and medical personnel are most certainly granted special protection. A large part of that protection is that they cannot be asked or pressured to carry out a military role and any attempt to do so constitutes a war crime. However as soon as they do undertake a military role they immediately lose those protections.

So when the IDF confirmed that al-Wafa hospital was being used as a base for rocket, anti-tank and sniper fire early on in the operation they were entitled to immediately raze it to the ground. However they first spent a week negotiating with hospital authorities, the UN's World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to ensure that it was either returned to its role as a medical facility or abandoned by civilians. By July 23rd (23/7/14) it had become clear that it was no longer functioning as a hospital so the IDF did attack it but only after checking one last time that there were no civilians on site. As it has now been identified as part of Hamas' tunnel network it will no doubt come under further attention for the IDF although hopefully they will attempt to return it to use as a hospital rather then destroying it outright. 

(Originally Posted) 17:15 on 29/7/14 (UK date).