AIPAC Memo

Israel Works to Protect Palestinian Civilians; Hamas Uses Them as Human Shields

November 9, 2023

Graphic of Hamas headquarters underneath Shifa Hospital in Gaza — Hamas has its main military headquarters underneath the Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza, using the hospital and its patients as human shields. (Source: IDF)

Hamas has consistently demonstrated that it wants to maximize Palestinian civilian casualties and protect its terrorists and weapons.

While Hamas steals humanitarian aid and uses innocent Palestinians as human shields to protect its missiles, Israel uses its missiles to protect its families. There is no moral equivalence between Israel’s actions and those of Hamas. Every innocent civilian life lost is a tragedy, and Israel works to minimize such deaths; despicably, Hamas intentionally takes actions to maximize Palestinian and Israeli civilian casualties.

The United States must continue to unequivocally stand by our ally Israel, and give it the time, resources, and diplomatic support needed to drive Hamas out of Gaza.

Hamas deliberately puts Palestinian civilians in danger by embedding its terrorist infrastructure in civilian areas, including in and around homes, schools, mosques and hospitals. For example, Hamas’ main military headquarters is located beneath the Shifa Hospital.
Hamas forcibly prevents Palestinian civilians from leaving military areas, forcing them to be human shields. Hamas’ actions constitute a double war crime: Using Palestinian civilians as human shields to target Israeli civilians.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Oct. 29, “It is true the Egyptians are prepared to allow American citizens and foreign nationals to come through the Rafah gate into Egypt. The Israelis have no issue with that. Hamas has been preventing their departure.”

The “Gaza Health Ministry” or “Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza” is controlled by Hamas, and the information it releases cannot be trusted. Journalists operating in Gaza do so only with the permission of Hamas — there is no independent journalism in the Gaza Strip.
President Joe Biden, on Oct. 25, said: “I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war. But I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using.”
Hamas’ Health Ministry initially reported, just minutes after the explosion, that the Al Ahli hospital had been hit by an Israeli air strike and there were 500 casualties. In truth, the parking lot next to the hospital had been hit by a misfired Palestinian rocket, and it is now estimated that around 100 people were killed.
The IDF estimates that around 12% of the roughly 10,000 rockets fired by Palestinian terrorists have misfired and fallen in Gaza, killing Palestinian civilians and destroying infrastructure.
Hamas’ Health Ministry includes all Hamas terrorists killed, including those killed inside Israel on Oct. 7, in
its civilian casualty count.

“Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as human shields, and innocent Palestinian families are suffering greatly because of them.”

- President Joe Biden, 10/20/23

Contrary to Hamas’ disregard for Palestinian civilians, Israel goes above and beyond to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza — warning Palestinian civilians to evacuate prospective targets through over 20,000 phone calls, 1.5 million leaflets, 4.4 million text messages, and 6 million voice messages — even though it inevitably means also warning the terrorists.
During this war, Israel has urged Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza to temporarily move south to minimize casualties, and provided them with ample time to do so. While approximately 1 million Palestinians have evacuated, Hamas prevented others from leaving the conflict zone with roadblocks and armed terrorists.
Hamas is solely responsible for the loss of civilian lives that results from its decisions to attack Israel and use civilians as human shields.

“We all know that the Gazan Ministry of Health is just a front for Hamas… We can’t take anything coming out of Hamas, including the so-called Ministry of Health, at face value.”

- NSC Coordinator John Kirby, 10/26/23

Hamas-controlled fuel tanks in Gaza lined up — Hamas-controlled fuel tanks in Gaza containing approximately 500,000 liters. Hamas uses this fuel to run its military machine instead of providing for civilians. (Source: IDF)

Israel has allowed hundreds of aid trucks to enter Gaza from Egypt to provide humanitarian relief to Palestinians in southern Gaza.
Israel has allowed for “humanitarian pauses” to facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip, despite no legal obligation to provide relief to an area controlled by an enemy combatant and Hamas’ continued efforts to steal the aid.
On Nov. 9, the White House announced an agreement with Israel for daily four-hour localized humanitarian pauses in Gaza to facilitate the delivery of additional supplies and allow civilians to leave
areas of fighting.
Hamas has a long history of stealing humanitarian aid intended for Palestinian civilians and using it for its terrorist infrastructure. It has diverted construction materials to build its complex terror tunnel networks, water pipes to build rockets, and fuel to launch them — all of which were allowed into Gaza under what was thought to be effective supervision designed to ensure they only reached civilians.
During the current war, Hamas stole oil from UNRWA, the U.N. agency created to help Palestinians. Hamas also blew up the power lines and transit crossing into Gaza, seriously impacting the
ability to help Gazan civilians.
Hamas has extensive stockpiles of fuel, food, weapons, medicine and other critical resources but refuses to share these with the people of Gaza. Hamas only uses it's resources to promote terror.

Hamas truck blocking Palestinian civilians from moving around — A roadblock set up by Hamas to prevent Palestinian civilians from evacuating south. (Source: IDF)

A ceasefire before Israel achieves its military objectives would enable Hamas to resupply and maintain power in Gaza.
Calls for a “ceasefire” or a halt in hostilities must be unequivocally rejected. A “ceasefire” would allow Hamas to stay armed and in power in Gaza, ready, able, and emboldened to continue attacking Israel. Israel must continue its campaign until it defeats Hamas and destroys its terrorist infrastructure.
As the State Department said on Oct. 23, “Any ceasefire would give Hamas the ability to rest, to refit, and to get ready to continue launching terrorist attacks against Israel.”
Calls for a ceasefire would condemn Palestinian civilians to more oppression and human rights abuses, under the rule of a brutal terrorist regime.

The Way Forward

The Biden administration and the overwhelming majority of Democrats and Republicans in Congress have rightly made statements standing with Israel and condemning Palestinian terrorism, following the largest and most devastating massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

There can be no moral equivalence between an ally that uses its missiles to protect its citizens and a terror group that uses its civilians to protect its missiles. Israel is working diligently to defeat Hamas and ensure such an attack can never happen again, while doing everything it can to limit civilian casualties and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The United States must continue to unequivocally stand by our ally Israel for as long as it takes, provide the Jewish state with the military and diplomatic support needed to succeed, and ensure humanitarian aid isn’t diverted to Hamas.

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Israel Works to Protect Palestinian Civilians; Hamas Uses Them as Human Shields

Hamas is intentionally using Palestinian civilians as human shields.

Biden: “I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using.”

“Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as human shields, and innocent Palestinian families are suffering greatly because of them.”

- President Joe Biden, 10/20/23

Israel is working to defeat Hamas while minimizing civilian casualties.

“We all know that the Gazan Ministry of Health is just a front for Hamas… We can’t take anything coming out of Hamas, including the so-called Ministry of Health, at face value.”

- NSC Coordinator John Kirby, 10/26/23

Israel is working to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Gaza while Hamas works to maximize civilian deaths.

Calls for a “ceasefire” reward Hamas and allow it to remain in power.

The Way Forward