Israeli Military, Hamas Battle It Out In Reality -- And On Twitter

Israel is accompanying its assault on Gaza with a public-relations offensive waged on Twitter.

When the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) began their offensive against the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on November 14, they started live-tweeting the entire military operation -- and even engaged in some digital skirmishes with Hamas’s military wing.

The Twitter battle is being played out between the IDF’s public-relations team -- which uses the Twitter handle @IDFSpokesperson -- and Hamas’s military wing, tweeting as @AlqassamBrigades.

It's being waged as Israeli air strikes have killed 13 Gazans -- including Hamas military commander Ahmed al-Jaabari -- and as Hamas-launched rockets have killed three people in southern Israel.

It began with this from the IDF:

The IDF has begun a widespread campaign on terror sites & operatives in the #Gaza Strip, chief among them #Hamas & Islamic Jihad targets.
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) November 14, 2012

Two minutes later, @IDFSpokesperson announced that the IDF's first target had been hit:

The first target, hit minutes ago, was Ahmed Al-Jabari, head of the #Hamas military wing: idfblog.com/2012/11/14/idf…
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) November 14, 2012

Soon after, digital placards, infographics, and videos of air strikes from the IDF PR team began emerging, like this one of the IDF dropping leaflets warning civilians to keep away from likely targets:

VIDEO - IDF drops leaflets warning Palestinian civilians to "avoid being present in the vicinity of #Hamas operatives" youtu.be/iPGHfTrgkgY
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) November 15, 2012

The IDF’s message to Hamas to run and hide was quickly retweeted nearly 4,000 times.

We recommend that no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead.
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) November 14, 2012

Hamas’s military wing, tweeting as @AlqassamBrigades, responded with a warning of its own:

@idfspokesperson Our blessed hands will reach your leaders and soldiers wherever they are (You Opened Hell Gates on Yourselves)
— Alqassam Brigades (@AlqassamBrigade) November 14, 2012

It's not just Twitter. The IDF has been posting updates on its blog, too.

Emotionally charged tweets containing videos and photos also began appearing from both sides, like this one of a rocket attack on southern Israel from earlier this year:

This is what kids here wake up to. Good morning from southern #Israel. youtube.com/watch?v=_-wETU… #Gaza
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) November 15, 2012

Alqassam Brigades have sent several tweets containing graphic photos of children they say were injured in the Israeli air strikes. The tweet below, however, does not contain a photo.

#Palestinian medical sources reported one Palestinian child killed by #Israeli shelling on Al Qarara village east of Khan Younis city.#gaza
— Alqassam Brigades (@AlqassamBrigade) November 15, 2012

Minute-by-minute public coverage by a military force of an ongoing offensive appears to be a first in the social-media sphere. But a war of words waged on Twitter by opposing sides in a conflict is nothing new.

In September 2011, a Taliban spokesman and the press office for NATO-led ISAF forces sparred on Twitter following a Taliban assault on Kabul.

-- Deana Kjuka

http://www.rferl.org/content/israel-hamas-battle-it-out-in-reality-and-on-twitter/24772140.html