Smoke & Mirrors: Six Weeks Of Violence On The Gaza Border

Hamas are explicitly planning to achieve maximum violence at the Gaza border today and tomorrow, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the declaration of the State of Israel, the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem and the start of Ramadan — a perfect storm.

-        Hamas’s use of actual smoke and mirrors to conceal its aggressive maneuvering on the Gaza border is the perfect metaphor for a strategy that has no viable military purpose but seeks to deceive the international community into criminalising a democratic state defending its citizens.

-        In reality these demonstrations are far from peaceful but are carefully planned and orchestrated tactical operations by a terrorist organisation intending to break through the border of a sovereign state and commit mass murder in the communities beyond, using their own civilians as cover.

-        A new report by the High Level Military Group’s Colonel Richard Kemp, former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan and international terrorism lead at the UK’s Joint Intelligence Committee, is the most in-depth assessment of the evolution of Hamas' strategic concept in its war on Israel and the current violence.  As part of the High Level Group’s ongoing project to assess the impact of Western armies facing enemies deploying terrorist tactics, including deliberate war crimes such as hiding military personnel and infrastructure among a civilian population, Colonel Kemp has spent time on the Gaza border during the current spate of violence, observing Palestinian activity and IDF response.  ]

    The report is based on his observations as well as a review of material produced by both sides and by the international community, and discussions with Israeli government ministers and IDF commanders and lawyers. Colonel Kemp’s views are though entirely his own, drawn from extensive personal experience of commanding military forces dealing with similar situations in other combat areas, including use of terrorist tactics in riot situations and military response using a range of measures including lethal force.