Hamas investigates Gaza failures

Hamas has launched an investigation into the failures that saw 13 of its men killed in a clash with IDF soldiers in Gaza Tuesday. Members of the group said that the gunmen fell into an IDF trap and did not respond correctly.

Hamas has long been functioning as a full-fledged military organization, and the decision to probe the incident falls in line with military norms.

A source in Hamas' military wing told Ynet that although the cell that was hit faced problematic ground conditions during the clash, a series of mistakes committed by the men was behind the unusually heavy death toll.

Hamas gunmen in Gaza (Photo: AP)

"We are looking into a series of mistakes, especially errors that turned out to be critical. The first was the fact that the lookouts failed to identify the Israeli force approaching and left the place without spotting any suspicious movement," he said.

According to the source, this failure enabled the IDF force to surprise the Hamas gunmen in the area. "Before they realized what was going on, heavy tank and artillery fire was opened at them, as well as ground-to-ground missiles fired by the infiltrating force."

'We didn't have many choices'

Another issue to be examined, said the source, was the inadequate use of weapons by the armed men, and particularly the use of RPGs, which threatened to harm members of the cell as well.

"That was another mistake by the fighters, who were not wise enough to use mortars and instead made great use of RPGs, which turned out to be ineffective given battle conditions. Their range is limited…therefore, the mortars were the only weapons that could have disrupted the Israeli operation, even though considering today's ground conditions with the artillery, tanks, and airplanes, we didn't have many choices."

Regarding the question of why Hamas men decided not to withdraw, the source said: "The Israelis were seeking to exploit it (a withdrawal) in order to stay at isolated homes in the area for the purpose of using them for observation posts and lethal ambushes. They also planned to place explosives in the open area we use. Therefore, we preferred a lost battle with a large number of casualties over the possibility that the enemy would freely move in the area on all the dangers this would entail in the future."

However, the source said that the outcome of the last operation "does no reflect in any way what will happen when fighting will take place in residential areas in refugee camps and in Gaza city." He added that the organization will respond in the way it chooses and that Israelis will discover it soon.

At the same time, the spokesman for Hamas' military wing, Abu Ubaida, threatened that the rocket attacks on the western Negev will continue. "The firing was a message and our response will turn all Zionist calculations upside down," he said. "It is too early for the enemy to rejoice because for every person killed we recruit a thousand others."