The IDF has captured Hamas combat manuals that explain how civilians are to be used as shields against Israeli strikes. In short, the manuals serve as a confession by Hamas that the terror organization commits war crimes. The manuals in question even refer to the Shuja’iya Brigade, named after a neighborhood Israel identified as a source of Hamas rocket fire. As Shoebat.com reported, the IDF went to great lengths to warn Shuja’iya residents to leave the area before it was struck but Hamas would not allow it.

In Shuja’iya – as all across Gaza – dead civilians were more valuable to Hamas than no casualties so those civilians were ordered back inside. The tactic is proven effective every time a pseudo-intellectual media personality like Geraldo Rivera derides Israel for civilian deaths.

According to the IDF blog:

IDF forces in the Gaza Strip found a Hamas manual on “Urban Warfare,” which belonged to the Shuja’iya Brigade of Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades. The manual explains how the civilian population can be used against IDF forces and reveals that Hamas knows the IDF is committed to minimizing harm to civilians.

Throughout Operation Protective Edge, Hamas has continuously used the civilian population of Gaza as human shields. The discovery of a Hamas “urban warfare” manual by IDF forces reveals that Hamas’ callous use of the Gazan population was intentional and preplanned.

This Hamas urban warfare manual exposes two truths: (1) The terror group knows full well that the IDF will do what it can to limit civilian casualties. (2) The terror group exploits these efforts by using civilians as human shields against advancing IDF forces.

It is important to underscore that these tactics work because the left-wing mainstream media and the Obama administration go out of their way to acknowledge them while arguing for moral equivalency. When the likes of Joe Scarborough, Geraldo, et. al. focus on civilian deaths at the hands of the IDF without focusing on how it happens, they become the reason why Hamas decided to write such manuals.

The irony is that by bemoaning the civilian deaths and blaming Israel for them, said individuals actually assist Hamas in making human shields more effective.

Count the confiscation of this manual as another reason why leftists were calling for a ceasefire. The longer Israel and Hamas fight, the more indefensible morally equivalent arguments become.