“For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.”  (Luke 8:17)

During Operation Protective Edge, hundreds of Hamas fighters surrendered to and were captured by Israeli forces.

A report by the Israeli Shin Bet (equivalent to the FBI) revealed that many of these militants admitted that “prominent use was made of mosques and hospitals [in Gaza] as meeting points and hideouts.  Worse still was the digging of tunnels and launch sites, and the placing of arsenals, near kindergartens.”

The report also listed the names and hometowns of those who gave information, which will probably make it difficult for them if they return; for example, a prisoner from the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis said that training and instruction for the Izzadin Al-Kassam Brigades is held underneath the Alshafi mosque in a hall.

Another prisoner from Khan Younis said that not only were the local mosques used for storing arms but also “local schools and hospitals, including the Nasser and Halal hospitals.”

Still another said that everyone in Gaza knows that Hamas leaders and their bodyguards “hide out” in hospitals by wearing police uniforms.

Many more testimonies by Hamas fighters implicate the use of both mosques and hospitals as meeting and training sites for militants, as entrances to tunnels, and as facilities for storing ammunition and other weapons.

These testimonies lead the report to conclude that “Hamas knowingly and intentionally operates in and adjacent to civilian areas … thus turning the civilian population into human shields on the assumption that Israel will be blamed for any injury and loss of life.”

Other prisoners admitted that Hamas has been raising up a paraglider team to attack Israel using rocket-propelled grenades, semi-automatic Kalashnikov rifles, and commando knives in a surprise move on Israeli forces near the Gaza Strip.

Hamas prisoners recently revealed that Hamas was planning to attack Israel from Gaza using a paragliding unit.

Cell leader Mohammed Kadara, 28, confessed that the group had been sent to Malaysia by way of Cairo for training in paragliding.

“The plan was to cross the border into Israel with a paraglider, reach an Israel Defense Force (IDF) post or settlement near the border, shoot at soldiers and civilians, and kill as many Israelis as possible,” said Kadara.  (Algemeiner)

Israel’s Channel 2 television news reports that a combined IDF Shin Bet air strike that killed the commando leaders Raed Attar, along with Mohammed Abu Shamalah and Mohammed Barhoum, in Rafah two weeks ago may have stopped the planned Hamas paraglider attack.

“It could have ended in disaster,” said a senior Shin Bet official about the planned Hamas operation.

A similar attack took place in November of 1987 during Israel’s occupation of a southern Lebanon security zone.  One paraglider was shot down and one successfully entered an IDF military base, killing six soldiers and wounding eight others before the attacker was shot.

This monument commemorating the victims of a PLO glider attack on Israel is located near Kiryat Shmona.

The attack was carried out by Ahmed Jibril’s Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a splinter group of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

The army came under heavy attack from the media at the time, for its failure to heed an earlier alarm warning of a security breach.

An extensive list of rocket attacks by Hamas with their launch locations and damage caused were submitted to the UN Security Council by Israel’s UN Ambassador Ron Prosor, demanding that they hold Hamas accountable for its war crimes.

“I expect the Security Council to loudly condemn Hamas’ activities,” wrote Prosor. “Despite the fact that the Council recognizes that Hamas has committed war crimes, nothing has been done yet about them.”

In addition, several weeks ago Sderot residents submitted official complaint forms against Hamas to the UN Human Rights Council.  And 13,000 people from various countries have signed a petition asking UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to put Hamas leaders on trial for war crimes.  (Israelnationalnews)

While the IDF is slated for such investigation by the UN, no investigation has yet been scheduled for Hamas.