8 | DECEMBER 14 • 2023 J
N

PURELY COMMENTARY

analysis
How the IDF is Reducing 
Civilian Casualties in Gaza
T

he Israel Defense Forces 
is making great efforts 
to limit civilian casual-
ties in its war against Hamas, 
despite the terror group’s core 
strategy of embedding itself 
in the heart of 
civilian areas and 
sites. 
According to a 
senior IDF offi-
cial, the military’s 
approach is com-
prehensive, inte-
grating advanced 
technologies, strategic planning 
and international humanitarian 
law. 
Central to this strategy is the 
use of a sophisticated control 
center in the IDF Southern 
Command to monitor and 
evaluate the situation in Gaza 
in real time. The system divides 
Gaza into 623 blocks, or poly-
gons, each featuring detailed 
data on civilian presence, in a 
continuously updating smart 
map. 
The information is made 
available to air, ground and 
naval units, and can have a 
decisive influence on the IDF’s 
actions. 
No less importantly, the 
source said, this information is 
crucial for controlling and ana-
lyzing the evacuation of Gazan 
civilians and understanding the 
distribution of the Strip’s civil-
ian population.
The control center primarily 
serves a humanitarian purpose, 
and is designed to enable IDF 
commanders, before launching 
any kind of strike or maneuver, 
to evaluate how “clean” a given 
sector is. 
According to the official’s 

assessment, over 5,000 terror-
ists have been killed in Gaza 
since Oct. 7, while the civilian 
death toll may be as high as 
10,000, which would mean a 
combatant to civilian casualty 
ratio of 2:1. 
“The IDF puts a lot of effort 
in … to make sure that civil-
ians won’t be on the battlefield. 
Unfortunately, we are facing an 
enemy whose core strategy is to 
do exactly the opposite. While 
we are trying to do everything 
in our power … like evacuating 
the civilian population from 
the battlefield to safer areas, 
what Hamas actually does is 
counter our efforts by putting 
[up] roadblocks, and [employ-
ing] other means” to keep them 
from leaving, said the source. 
The IDF has been able to 
evacuate over a million people 
from northern Gaza, including 
850,000 from Gaza City and 
nearly the entire population of 
areas like Shejaiya.
In southern Gaza, it has 
sent local evacuation orders 
with which some 400,000 
Gazans have complied and has 
encouraged civilians to move 

into “humanitarian belts” in Al 
Mawasi, west of Khan Younis 
and Rafah, according to the 
source. 
To monitor the status of each 
sector in Gaza, the control 
center uses a plethora of data, 
including cell phone data and 
input from international aid 
organizations, to feed real-time 
information into the monitor-
ing systems.
A key aspect of the IDF’s 
strategy is the issuance of 
early warnings to civilians 
in combat zones, the source 
explained. However, Hamas’ 
strategy involves the use of 
civilians as human shields, 
complicating the IDF’s war 
efforts. The terror group 
launches rockets and anti-tank 
missiles from schools, mosques, 
hospitals and other such sites. 
To counter these efforts, the 
control room is equipped to 
communicate not only with 
various IDF units but also 
Palestinian civilians, especially 
concerning evacuations and 
humanitarian aid coordination.
The IDF’s efforts have also 
been extensive in terms of 

infrastructure. For example, 
the military facilitated the 
construction of new pipelines 
in Gaza to ensure water access 
in areas like Khan Yunis and 
Dir Al-Balah, according to the 
official. 
Moreover, the military has 
coordinated the entrance of 
two field hospitals and the 
evacuation of injured civilians 
to these facilities, demonstrat-
ing a commitment to address-
ing the immediate humani-
tarian needs arising from the 
conflict.
The IDF’s strategy also 
extends to the detailed under-
standing of the Gaza terrain. 
A number of officers in the 
control room are well versed in 
the local geography, enabling 
precise and informed deci-
sion-making. 
Still, the challenges of con-
ducting warfare in such a 
densely populated area remain 
formidable. 
As the IDF focuses on 
the next stage of its ground 
offensive in southern Gaza, 
its approach to minimizing 
civilian casualties in Gaza will 
continue to be marked by a 
combination of technological 
sophistication, strategic evacua-
tion planning, close monitoring 
of civilian movements and 
adherence to international laws.
These efforts reflect a con-
certed attempt to balance the 
military imperative of disman-
tling the Hamas terror army in 
Gaza against the need to mini-
mize collateral damage as much 
as possible. 

Yaakov Lappin is an Israel-based military 

affairs correspondent and analyst. 

Yaakov 
Lappin

JNS.org

Israeli troops operating in the Hamas-
ruled Gaza Strip, Nov. 29, 2023.

IDF

