“In 4 Minutes We Will Drop a Warning Bomb”: A Remarkable Conversation between Israeli Forces and a Gaza Resident before Attack (Ynet)
[I was so deeply moved by this year’s Tisha b’Av movie by Rabbi Yoel Gold (at http://hashkifa.com) telling the stories of Jews who, through their undying commitment to Jewish values and ethics, uplift all of human society. That is exactly what I thought of when I read this article about how the IDF is going above and beyond to protect innocent bystanders during the current Gaza operation. This article makes me feel proud to be a Jew and an Israeli and the mother of a daughter serving in Israel’s Air Force!]
Today (Sunday), the General Security Service (Shin Bet) published the recording of a conversation between a Shin Bet coordinator and a Palestinian from the Gaza Strip before the IDF attacked the area where he was located, in order to avoid harming innocents.
“Please concentrate and be focused,” the coordinator addresses the Palestinian who answers to the name Abu-Hatira, “I don’t want anyone to get hurt here, and I see that people are returning to their homes. Is the Khalifa building free?”
Abu-Hatira replies: “Now there is no one there.”
This call was made as a warning just before an attack on a munitions warehouse located inside a residential home in the center of Gaza City. This is standard procedure, and is one of dozens of calls made by the Shin Bet to residents of the Gaza Strip to make sure that there will be no innocent casualties near the targets.
The Shin Bet coordinator, in his conversation with Abu-Hatira, even makes sure that there is no one around the building that is about to be attacked. “Are you sure it’s empty? Did you see with your own eyes?” the Shin Bet coordinator verifies. The Palestinian answers him: “I see that there is no one on the street. Even in the shops and houses around, everything is empty.”
The Shin Bet coordinator tells him: “I saw four people who left a few minutes ago,” and the Gazan resident explains to him: “Those were people we told to leave because soon there will be shooting. They were scared and moved away. All the houses around the building are empty.” The coordinator explains to the Palestinian what is going to happen in four minutes from the end of the conversation: “We will drop a warning bomb. I don’t want people standing at the intersection.”
The Shin Bet decided to publish this conversation as part of an informational campaign that Israel is forced to launch along with every new operation, in order to combat false Palestinian claims of Israeli attacks on innocents. Last night, we will recall, the Palestinians claimed that four children were tragically killed as a result of an IDF attack in Jabaliya, but later it became clear that the children had been killed as a result of a failed missile launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Also this morning the Palestinians reported two deaths in a house that was hit in the refugee camp, but in that case as well, according to the IDF, the deaths were caused by a failed Palestinian firing of a rocket.
I don’t know what the halacha is. But it does not seem right that we are so compassionate with our enemies. Maybe that’s why they keep send missiles every year.
HaShem Yaazor and may we see Mashiach speedily.