'Hamas Makes Cynical Use of Civilian Homes'

Hamas member and wife flee aerial bombardment

These monsters hide behind women and children, yet the world still stands behind them.

Israeli soldiers yesterday discovered a hand-drawn Hamas map revealing how the terror group is exploiting Gaza's civilian population by deploying snipers, booby-trapping homes and planting bombs, officials said.

"Hamas makes cynical use of civilian homes," said Israel's chief intelligence officer, Brig. Gen. Yuval Halamish.

The map of the northern Gaza town of al-Atatra was translated on the scene and helped the Israeli troops in subsequent operations, he said.

The block-by-block sketch was apparently based on a view taken from Google Maps.

On the map, Hamas split up the town into three sectors - red, blue and green - and highlighted sites such as mosques, a gas station and a fuel depot, the Jerusalem Post and Yediot Ahronoth newspapers reported on their Web sites.

"You can see that the neighborhood was divided into three areas of fighting, according to color, and inside, the terrorists spread out a number of posts, planted explosive devices and posted sharpshooters," Halamish said.

"Inside the map, the terrorists also marked sniper positions, as well as the location of roadside bombs, anti-tank bombs and land mines."

Halamish said the map showed that Hamas does not hesitate to use the civilian population in carrying out its terrorist activity.

For example, a brown dot is marked next to a mosque, representing a nearby sniper position.

Pointing to one sector, Halamish said, "This is a civilian area, and you can see on the map how Hamas booby-trapped the entrance to homes in order to hit" Israeli forces.

Knowing all this, President-in-Training Obama is ready to sit down and chat with them. Wonderful.

The incoming Obama administration is prepared to abandon George Bush's ­doctrine of isolating Hamas by establishing a channel to the Islamist organisation, sources close to the transition team say.

The move to open contacts with Hamas, which could be initiated through the US intelligence services, would represent a definitive break with the Bush ­presidency's ostracising of the group. The state department has designated Hamas a terrorist organisation, and in 2006 ­Congress passed a law banning US financial aid to the group.