Doc's Talk: The Ratio Between Terrorist Operatives and Non-Involved Civilians Killed in Error in Gaza*

Friday, August 01, 2014

The Ratio Between Terrorist Operatives and Non-Involved Civilians Killed in Error in Gaza*

Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center

Right: Dual identity of a dead operative in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Death notice for Mohammed Mounir Ashour posted by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (paldf.net, July 11, 2014). Right: Mohammed Mounir Ashour in a Palestinian police uniform.

Main Findings

1. Below are the findings of a preliminary, partial list of Palestinians killed in Operation Protective Edge.[1] The goal is to ascertain the identity of terrorist operatives and non-involved citizens, and to examine the ratio between them.

2. We have examined the first 150 names of Palestinians killed between July 7 and July 12, 2014, which appeared on the list of those killed issued by the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza (see Appendix C). To this list the ITIC added the names of six terrorist operatives who were killed on those dates but were not included on the Health Ministry's list, or who were killed and whose names were added later. Conversely, we removed the names of three dead, whose identity is still unknown, and the name of a terrorist operative who, it turned out, was wounded and whose name appeared on the mortality list by mistake.

3. Out of the names of 152 individuals who were killed, that were examined by the ITIC, 71 were identified as terror operatives and 81 as non-involved civilians. The percentage of terrorist operatives among all those examined is 46.7%, while the percentage of non-involved citizens is 53.3%. This ratio may vary as the ITIC continues to examine the names of those killed in Operation Protective Edge.

Methodological Notes

4. In its study, the ITIC examined 150 names of the first individuals who were killed, which appeared on the lists issued by the Palestinian Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip. These lists include the names of Palestinians killed between July 7, 2014, the day that the Palestinians consider to be the day that the operation began, and July 12, 2014. This is only a preliminary, partial list with regard to the number of those killed, as according to reports issued by the Health Ministry, the Palestinian death toll has now reached 1,035 (on the morning of July 28, 2014).[2]

5. The analysis of the first 150 names again indicated a number of deficiencies on the list issued by the Health Ministry, the likes of which we also encountered after Operation Pillar of Defense.[3] It is our impression that the list published by the Health Ministry was prepared hastily, and corrections appeared on lists published later. The details about those killed are incomplete (which makes them difficult to identify) and we suspect that they include duplicate names and/or names of civilians who were not necessarily killed by the IDF. Moreover, the list does not distinguish between non-involved civilians and terrorist operatives, and refers to all those killed as "shahids" (martyrs).

6. These deficiencies, in our opinion, are not accidental but are part of Hamas's policy of concealment and deception (see below), shared by the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip. Hamas's policy is designed to create an image of a large number of civilians who were killed, to strengthen the image that Israel is carrying out a "massacre" of civilians and to create an ostensibly factual infrastructure for a political, propaganda and legal campaign against Israel during Operation Protective Edge and on the day after. However, despite the deficiencies, these reports by the Health Ministry are the only systematic source of information regarding the names of the dead, so we had to rely on it.

7. In order to cope with the fundamental deficiencies, we examined each of the 150 names of the first casualties appearing on the Health Ministry's list on an individual basis. The ITIC's analysis of the names is based on a variety of information, sourced primarily from social networks and websites of various organizations, especially Hamas and PIJ.We also used information from other media outlets, both Palestinian and Arab. In order to complement or validate some of the names, we used information originating from Israeli security sources.

Details of the Findings

8. Based on our analysis of the first 150 names on the Health Ministry's list, we reached the following findings:

A. We identified 66 names of Palestinians killed as terrorist operatives (for details about them see table in Appendix A). In addition, we identified six terrorist operatives killed during the period that the Health Ministry's list refers to. Four of them do not appear on the list and two others appeared on later lists. Another terrorist operative turned out to be injured and not killed.Hence the total number of terrorist operatives is 71.

B. Of the 71 names of terrorist operatives that we identified, we found 38 photos of operatives - i.e., more than half of the dead operatives who were identified (for photos of operatives, see Appendix B).

C. We identified 81 names as non-involved civilians.

D. Three names of dead Palestinians have not yet been identified. It is not yet possible to determine whether they were terrorist operatives or non-involved civilians.

9. Below is a breakdown of 71 terrorist operatives identified by the ITIC, by organizational affiliation:

A. 35Hamas / Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operatives

B. 21PIJ / Al-Quds Battalions operatives

C. Sixoperatives of Fatah terrorist networks (Abu al-Rish Battalions; Abd al-Qader al-Husseini Battalions)

D. Fourmembers of an independent terrorist network called Al-Mujahedin Battalions[4]

E. Threeoperatives affiliated with the Salafist-jihadis (two members of a network named Saif al-Islam Battalions[5] and an extremist Salafist preacher).

F. One PFLP military operative.

G. One military operative of a terrorist network by the name of Al-Ahrar.[6]

10. In our assessment, the interim findings of the segmentation of names of the dead reflect the relative weight of the various terrorist organizations involved in the fighting: the figures illustrate the centrality of Hamas in the fighting and the important role played by the PIJ. Special attention should also be paid to the relatively large number of terrorist operatives belonging to networks based on former Fatah operatives and on operatives from a terrorist network by the name of Al-Mujahedin Battalions. The number of operatives from other terrorist groups is small and, in our assessment, this also reflects their minor military importance.

Dual Identity

11. The names that we examined included those of six terrorist operatives with a dual identity, i.e., those serving concurrently in terrorist organizations and in the Palestinian security forces in the Gaza Strip. All six who were identified were operatives in Hamas's Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Three of them also served in the national security forces of the Palestinian Interior Ministry in the Gaza Strip and three of them served in the Palestinian police.After their deaths, dual death notices were published by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and by the police, Interior Ministry and security forces.

12. Dual identity of terrorist operatives, especially in Hamas, is widespread and is well known to us from Operation Cast Lead and Operation Pillar of Defense. Dual identity allows Hamas to employ many military operatives in the security forces, give their activity governmental legitimacy, and pay them salaries intended for members of the security forces in the Gaza Strip.

Terrorists with dual identity[7]

Left: Death notice of Ibrahim al-Balawi from the National Security Forces Headquarters (Facebook page of the National Security Forces in the Gaza Strip, July 8, 2014). Right: Death notice of Ibrahim Abd al-Fattah al-Balawi, issued by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (No. 43 in the table in Appendix B).

Left: Death notice of Mohammed Mounir Ashour posted by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (paldf.net, July 11, 2014). Right: Mohammed Mounir Ashour in a Palestinian police uniform (No. 92 in the table in Appendix B).

Left: Rif'at Yusuf Aamer in the uniform of the Interior Ministry in the Gaza Strip (muslm.org). Right: Death notice of Rif'at Yusuf Aamer in Facebook, posted by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (No. 127 in the table in Appendix B).

Hamas's policy of concealment and deception

13. In our analysis of the identity of the Palestinians killed, we encountered many difficultiesarising from the policy of concealment and deception of Hamas and the government ministries controlled by it (the Health Ministry, the Interior Ministry). In the present conflict, as during previous operations, Hamas and these ministries are again refraining from publishing reliable figures about terrorist operatives killed, with the intention of not harming the image of their "victory." At the same time, Hamas seeks to increase the number of civilian dead in an effort to disparage Israel and to apply propagandist political and legal pressure on it during the fighting and on the day after. Palestinian human rights organizations based in the Gaza Strip, mainly PCHR and the Al-Mezan Center, which played an important role in conveying false information to the Goldstone Commission, are an integral part of this policy and are preparing for legal and propaganda campaigns against Israel after the operation.

14. Hamas's policy of concealment of is manifested, inter alia, in refraining from publishing complete, detailed and systematic information on the names of the organization's terrorist operatives killed in Operation Protective Edge. It also appears that Hamas refrains from providing the Palestinian Health Ministry with information about some operatives who were killed. This is done with the goal of helping to create the image that civilians are getting killed in the Gaza Strip, not terrorist operatives. For instance, guidelines for social networking activists in the Gaza Strip, published by the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry a few days after the start of Operation Protective Edge, state, among other things, that every Palestinian killed should be described as an "innocent citizen" (these two words appeared in English in the Arabic-language guidelines). It also states that the number of fatalities among women and children should be emphasized (YouTube video, July 10, 2014).

The problem with assessments from UN sources and human rights organizations about the ratio of civilians killed

15. According to data published by UN and human rights organizations, the ratio of civilians among the fatalities in Operation Protective Edge is between 70% and 80%.[8]

16. We believe these figures are not reliable, and that the ratio of civilian fatalities is significantly biased upward in order to defame Israel. This is because these figures are not based on a detailed analysis of the names of the Palestinians killed but rather on manipulative and biased information, originating from Hamas, Hamas's ministries operating in the Gaza Strip, and human rights organizations based in the Gaza Strip that serve the Hamas propaganda network.[9] Our initial findings and the lessons learned from our analysis of the names of those killed during Operation Cast Lead[10] may support this assessment.

NOTES

[1]Hamas calls Operation Protective Edge Al-'Asf al-Ma'kul - the Eaten Chaff Campaign. This is a term from the Quran (Surat al-Fil, Verse 5). 'Asf is the grain that remains after the harvest, which the wind blows, chaff that is used as fodder for sheep and cattle. Al-'Asf al-Ma'kul is the chaff that the animal eats and crushes in its mouth. In the context of the verse from the Quran, it is Allah who dealt a severe blow to the enemies who fought against the residents of Mecca in the year of the Prophet Muhammad's birth, and figuratively crushed them into crumbs. The image is that this campaign will crush Israel.

[2]The figure is taken from the Twitter page of Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for the Palestinian Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip.

[3]See the ITIC Information Bulletin from December 16, 2012: "Analysis of the Ratio between the Names of Terrorist Operatives Killed during Operation Pillar of Defense and Civilians Killed in Error."

[4]Al-Mujahedin Battalions- an independent terrorist network in the Gaza Strip, based on former Fatah operatives, now radical Islamist.

[5]Saif al-Islam Battalions -a Salafist-jihadi network in the Gaza Strip, which is a secessionist faction of Fatah's Abu Rish Battalions.

[6]Al-Ahrar movement - a terrorist network in the Gaza Strip, established in 2007 and based on Fatah operatives, now affiliated with Hamas.

[7] These are examples that arose in our analysis of the first 150 names on the list published by the Palestinian Health Ministry.

[8]In her speech at the Supreme Council for Human Rights in Geneva, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay noted that according to UN figures, about 74% of those killed during the operation were civilians.

[9]The most prominent of these organizations is the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) operating in the Gaza Strip, which played an important role in conveying false and misleading information to the Goldstone Commission and is extremely active in the lawfare campaign being waged against Israel around the world.

[10]The findings of the study carried out by Israel's defense establishment after Operation Cast Lead showed that at least 60% of all those killed in the operation were operatives in the military and security forces of Hamas and other terrorist organizations. Conversely, data supplied by Palestinian human rights organizations, whose findings were adopted by the report in practice, stated that only 20% of those killed were "combatants" (i.e., terrorist operatives). For a detailed analysis on this issue, see the document published by the ITIC on March 10, 2010: "Hamas and the Terrorist Threat from the Gaza Strip. The Main Findings of the Goldstone Report Versus the Factual Findings", Part Two.

*This article appeared on July 28 on the Meir Amit website under the title "Preliminary, partial examination of the names of Palestinians killed in Operation Protective Edge and analysis of the ratio between terrorist operatives and non-involved civilians killed in error (full version)"

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

Doc's Talk