A Hamas "combat manual" that was seized by Israel's military exposes the Islamic militant group's blatant use of civilians as human shields, Israel Defense Forces said Monday.
The manual, which belongs to Hamas' military wing Al-Qassam Brigades, outlines how the militants intentionally use civilians in Gaza to exploit Israel's efforts to limit the amount of human casualties as much as possible, according to the IDF blog.
"The soldiers and commanders (of the IDF) must limit their use of weapons and tactics that lead to the harm and unnecessary loss of people and [destruction of] civilization facilities," reads the manual titled "Urban Warfare," according to the blog. "It is difficult for them to get the most use out of their firearms, especially of supporting fire."
As the conflict enters day two of a three-day truce, the Palestinian death toll stands at over 1,800, mostly civilians, since the offensive began July 8. Three Israeli civilians and 64 Israeli soldiers were killed.
IDF has repeatedly stated throughout its month-long offensive against Hamas in Gaza it did not want to harm civilians, urging Gaza's 1.8 million residents to seek shelter elsewhere as airstrikes continued to pummel the strip. But other nations, including the U.S., slammed Israel for not doing enough to prevent the deaths.
The manual is proof the Palestinian organization knew about the military's stance on civilians, IDF said.
Hamas wrote that the "presence of civilians are pockets of resistance" that present major obstacles for IDF, including issues with launching open fire and making sure medical treatment reaches the injured, the military wrote.
Hamas also mentioned that destroying civilian homes benefits them because "this increases the hatred of the citizens towards the attackers," IDF said.
According to CNN's translation of the manual pages made available, there is no specific reference to the use of Gaza civilians as human shields. Experts told the station on Wednesday that right now it's impossible to verify the truth behind the human shield claim.
