[R-G] Gaza war extends into psychological real

[Anthony Fenton]

Gaza war extends into psychological realm
by Paul Schemm / Associated Press
Wednesday January 07, 2009, 7:02 PM

http://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2009/01/israels_gaza_war_extends_into.html

AP, FileIn this Saturday, Jan. 3, 2009, photo, leaflets dropped by  
Israeli planes fall on the northern Gaza Strip as seen from the Israel  
side of the border with Gaza. The day before a massive Israeli  
airstrike killed hundreds of Hamas militants in their barracks,  
Israeli military radio channels broadcast talk of a "lull" and pulled  
troops back from the border. Israeli defense officials now say it was  
a psychological warfare tactic to lure Hamas fighters into the open at  
the start of the massive offensive against the militant group in Gaza.

JERUSALEM -- Images of triumphant masked militants and bloodstained  
hospitals abruptly disappeared from the screen of the Hamas Al Aqsa  
television station one day during the Israeli offensive into Gaza, to  
be replaced by a message in Arabic telling the militant group's  
leaders to turn themselves in.

The faces of Hamas' top leadership appeared against a black  
background, before being shot down one by one, followed by an image of  
a clock informing the organization that time is running out.

Even as Israel's armor and foot soldiers push into the Gaza Strip in  
an effort to stop militants from launching rockets into Israel, the  
war is also being waged with psychological operations designed to sap  
morale on both sides.

Over at Islamic Jihad's Voice of Jerusalem radio station in Gaza City,  
broadcaster Kamal Abu Nasser said that at least once an hour, the  
Israeli military breaks into his signal and broadcasts messages  
blaming Hamas for everyone's problems.

Hamas, for its part, said it has broadcast messages on Israeli  
military walkie talkies threatening to kidnap and kill Israeli  
soldiers. The army said it had no information on such transmissions.

The fate of Sgt. Gilad Schalit, who was captured by Hamas-linked  
militants in 2006 and whose whereabouts remain unknown, is repeatedly  
evoked in broadcasts and statements by Hamas, which has several times  
has threatened to nab more Israeli soldiers. Hamas tried to spread  
rumors that it had captured several.

At least one actual attempt failed, the military said.

Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Ilan Tal said he would not  
comment on psychological operations.

"If we're talking about psychological warfare, we have to learn from  
what Hamas is doing," he said. "We expect Hamas to intensify and  
increase those sort of rumors (of kidnappings) as the situation gets  
more critical."

Israel's army formed a psychological operations unit three years ago,  
though its initial efforts in the 2006 Lebanon war were largely  
restricted to drawing satirical cartoons of Hezbollah leader Hassan  
Nasrallah and dropping them as leaflets over southern Lebanon.

More chilling at the time for Beirut residents, however, were the  
strange phone calls they received during the war telling them that  
their woes were due to Hezbollah and they should turn against the  
guerrillas.

That particular technique has reappeared in the current Gaza  
onslaught, with phone calls and leaflets telling Gazans that their  
problems were due to Hamas.

The leaflets include a phone number and e-mail address to call in tips  
about the whereabouts of militant leaders and weapons caches.

Ephraim Kam, the deputy director of Tel Aviv University's Institute of  
National Security Studies, said the role of psychological operations  
loomed large in this offensive, more so than in the past.

"I think we did this in former wars, but in this case we had a lot of  
time, relatively speaking, and so much more emphasis was given to  
psychological warfare."

Lacking the resources of the Israelis, Hamas' psychological efforts  
have been largely restricted to the propaganda broadcasts on its own  
Al Aqsa TV channel, including Hebrew language messages asking Israelis  
to "choose between a peace that gives us back our rights or a war that  
will smash you down."

There have also been reports of threatening text messages sent to the  
inhabitants of Israel's southern towns telling them to hide  
underground because Hamas is coming for them.

The biggest weapon in Hamas' psychological arsenal is also its best  
known actual weapon -- the homemade rockets it sends on erratic paths  
into southern Israeli towns. During the conflict, militants have also  
used longer-range Grad rockets, hitting cities that used to be out of  
range.

The thousands of rockets have only killed only a handful of Israelis,  
yet life across Israel's south has been paralyzed.

The greatest disinformation coup of the conflict so far, however, came  
right at the beginning of the offensive when Israeli bombers caught  
hundreds of Hamas security men inside their compounds.

The day before a massive Israeli airstrike, Israeli military radio  
channels broadcast talk of a "lull" and pulled troops back from the  
border.

Israeli defense officials now say it was a psychological warfare  
tactic or a "con" to lure Hamas fighters into the open.

_____

Associated Press Writers Ian Deitch in Jerusalem, Ben Hubbard in  
Ramallah and Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City contributed to this report.