COMMON MYTHS & FACTS #10

The IDF “Code of Ethics” reads as follows: IDF servicemen will use force of arms only for the purpose of subduing the enemy to the necessary extent and will limit his use of force so as to prevent unnecessary harm to human life and limb, dignity and property.

The IDF servicemen’s “Purity of Arms” is their self-control in the use of armed force. They will use their arms only for the purpose of achieving their mission, without inflicting unnecessary injury to human life or limb; dignity or property, of both soldiers and civilians, with special consideration for the defenseless, whether in wartime, or during routine security operations, or in the absence of combat, or times of peace.

​A 2010 interview of Hamas leader, Fathi Hamad, confirms that Israel DID kill approximately 700 terrorist combatants, rather than “civilians” – of which the Hamas leader claims Hamas members to be included as. 

Hamas fires deadly rockets from schools, hospitals, and densely populated areas knowing that Israel, like any democracy, would have to take whatever military action was necessary to stop the rockets. Hamas also knew the media would broadcast the dead Palestinian children, which Hamas uses as human shields, around the world to cause outrage directed at Israel for the cause of their deaths. 

The International Crisis Group interviewed three Hamas fighters in January who said they “often fired [rockets] in close proximity to homes and from alleys, hoping that nearby civilians would deter Israel from responding”