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