Channel 13 journalist Roi Yanonvsky, who was recently released from the IDF after serving in the reserves since the beginning of the war, wrote a description of what he observed in the Gaza Strip during his time there, exposing the lies about the Gaza Strip and its residents.

“Gaza is seen as a backward area, the ‘most densely populated in the world’ which has been under Israeli ‘siege’ for years,” he began. “There’s no bigger lie than this. Gaza is a modern, beautiful, and developed city – with large and well-equipped houses, wide boulevards, public spaces, and a promenade by the sea and parks. It looks much better than any other Arab city from the Jordan to the sea, much more similar to Tel Aviv than to Kfar Qasim or Umm al-Fahm. And of course, it is very far from being ‘the most densely populated in the world.'”

“If this is a siege, let me live in a siege – the houses are bursting with products and food from all the countries of the Middle East, the latest furniture, advanced electrical equipment and what not. There are also magnificent mansions that wouldn’t put Savyon and Kfar Shmaryahu [ritzy Tel Aviv suburbs] to shame. There is absolutely no shortage of wealth in Gaza. In general, most of the houses I was in were much bigger than my apartment in Tel Aviv. The theory of ‘if only they had a chance for a good life they wouldn’t fight Israel,’ is simply not relevant to Gaza.”

Yanovsky also revealed the truth about the “innocent civilians” in Gaza. “The most common item in homes in the Gaza Strip: a map of the Land of Israel – under the heading ‘Map of Palestine.’ There is no mention of Israel or Israeli yishuvim at all. And this is found in almost every home, in every school, and in every public institution. The goal of erasing the State of Israel is neither hidden nor suppressed, it is almost everywhere. The historical distortion of this map that is taught from the age of 0 is a topic for another discussion that only emphasizes Gazan residents’ distorted perception of reality.”

“In all the neighborhoods we were in, there are ready-made Hamas combat compounds – weapons, tunnels, explosives, launch compounds – all inside residential houses, some of which are also prepared with openings in the walls to pass between buildings and what not.”

“The residents of the Gaza Strip who live in the combat zones are aware of this, they have received countless notices to evacuate. Long before the IDF entered. The IDF’s pamphlets are still everywhere. Those who decided to stay in the combat zones are either Hamas members in various positions or people who consciously decided to stay in the areas used by Hamas for combat for their own considerations.”

“Hamas members almost never walk around armed. They are neither stupid nor suckers. They know they won’t be shot if they walk around in ‘civilian’ guise. They prepare weapons ahead of time at the entrances to the buildings and arm themselves just a moment before they attack. That’s why the fighting is much more complex than any other arena, and whoever tries to judge from the outside why soldiers shot X or didn’t shoot Y should go into Gaza for a week or two and come back with insights.”

“The circle that enables the activity of Hamas is much larger than its tens of thousands of terrorists. The ideology of Hamas is found in almost every house – in pictures, in propaganda materials. Hamas in Gaza is like Messi in Argentina. The strengthening of Hamas at this level requires the active assistance of the population. There is no way that the residents of the compounds where we located rockets and weapons were unaware that the place is used as a launch pad where they try to massacre Israelis every day. And I find it hard to believe that the parents in the kindergarten where we found a tunnel shaft weren’t awae of it. Who chooses to send their children to a kindergarten that is used as a terrorist infrastructure?”

“Hamas’ most powerful weapon is lies and propaganda,” he expounded. “This is its fuel. This is how you supported the lie of the ‘siege’ for years, this is what is being done now with the photos of the innocent victims and the killing of the ‘journalists’ who turn out to be terrorist operatives. Gaza is the only place in the world where they report 500 dead half an hour after an explosion. Even in incidents of earthquakes and severe disasters, it takes the rescue forces a few days to identify and estimate the number of dead, but the Palestinian Ministry of Health already knows a minute after the explosion what the damage is. This is ridiculous and the fact that the international media cites the numbers as the words of a living G-d is pathetic. I would attribute the same level of credibility to this week’s reports of ‘starvation’ in Rafah.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)