IDF Official: Hamas Embedding Itself in Schools, Hospitals

(INN) A senior IDF official has told Arutz Sheva that the army has no choice but to launch a ground offensive into Gaza in order to stamp out rocket fire on Israeli civilians, because Hamas and other terrorist groups have embedded their military infrastructure so deeply into the civilian population that it is impossible to reach via air power without causing massive collateral damage.

In particular, the source said Hamas has hidden its missile stockpiles and even embedded launchpads specifically in schools and hospitals - callously using the most vulnerable members of society as human shields. At the same time, the Islamist group is not allowing civilians to leave the area; on the contrary, it is encouraging as many noncombatants as possible to "protect" its positions with their bodies.

As a result, he said, a ground invasion is all but inevitable.

'Double war-crime'

Earlier Thursday, it was revealed that Hamas had told Gazans not to listen to IDF warnings of impending strikes, but to stay indoors and act as human shields.

The Israeli Air Force has used numerous methods - from phone calls and leaflets, to firing dud missiles before a strike (known as "knocking on the roof") - to warn noncombatants prior to military strikes in their vicinity.

But the Hamas-run Gaza Interior Ministry said in a message to residents that the warnings "are designed to weaken our resolve and to sow panic and fear among us, in light of the failures of our enemies. We call on Gaza residents not to pay attention to these messages and not to leave their homes."

In previous operations, IDF footage and photos have shown how Palestinian terrorists hide weapons and munitions in mosques, schools and other sensitive civilian sites, in direct contravention of international law. Some Israeli leaders have referred to this practice as a "double war-crime": firing missiles indiscriminately at Israeli civilians, while using Palestinian Arab civilians as human shields.

During the current escalation Hamas has openly boasted about the "success" of this strategy, and the IDF has published extensive evidence of the practice.

Watch - Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu-Zuhri lauds the "success" of use of human shields:

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