Wednesday, August 11, 2010 FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

In next war, Israel to remove Palestinian civilians from harm's way
TEL AVIV — Israel's military has drawn plans to evacuate tens of thousands of Palestinians during a war in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

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Military sources said the Planning Directorate has drafted options for the rapid removal of Palestinians from villages and refugee camps during any future war. They said the plans would seek to eliminate efforts by Palestinian fighters to use civilians as shields.

"We were severely criticized by the international community for firing into civilian communities," a military source said. "One solution has been to remove civilians from areas controlled by terrorists before battle."

In the 2009 war against Hamas, the Israeli military dropped millions of leaflets over Gaza communities that warned of an invasion. The flyers, accompanied by more than 250,000 phone calls, urged Palestinians to leave their homes to avoid injury.

"It did not succeed too well, mostly because people didn't know where to run," the source said. "We will address this in future planning."

Under a newly-drafted doctrine, the Israel Army would force Palestinians out of their homes before any full-scale battle. The sources said the military believes that most civilians would cooperate if offered options for food and shelter in another location.

The military has come under heavy international pressure to revise its urban warfare tactics after a United Nations report accused Israel of crimes in the Gaza Strip during the Hamas war. On July 6, the military reported the indictment of eight soldiers on charges connected to the war against Hamas.
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2010/me_palestinians0768_08_11.asp