Children, Women, and the Elderly: Hamas Observers Who Pass Information to Sinwar

Khan Yunis has been visited recently by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Col. Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar, with intentions of helping to concentrate the military’s efforts in the Gaza Strip.

One of the challenges the forces face in the Gaza Strip, which allows Sinwar to control the Gaza Strip partially, is a command and control system, which provides him with a situational picture of what is happening on the ground.

According to estimates in the security establishment, Hamas surrounds the tunnel system in Khan Yunis - where the top of Hamas is hiding - in various circles of observers and messengers. These observers can be women, boys, and men of all ages, who report on the location and extent of the IDF forces, and any unusual activity in the area, which can be useful to Hamas’s plans.

According to army officers, “Some of the observers will stand on the roofs of houses or under the cover of buildings without weapons, only with a walkie-talkie or a telephone, and some of them will probably communicate what is happening with shouts or other signs. Some women will also cross the street with a baby carriage or children in order not to arouse suspicion.”

But the cynical and cruel step, according to army officers, is the use of children who are sent to battle zones and places occupied by the IDF, where there is no reason for civilians, especially children, to be.

“You know that the child arrived at Tzafat, you know that he is part of a larger system, but in the end, he is a child and we as commanders are in a dilemma, to shoot or to carry out a pursuit while risking our fighters. So we do not shoot at children under any circumstances, but Hamas certainly puts us in a very complex dilemma.”(JPost / VFI News)