By Steve BermanThe Luftschutzhäuser and Luftschutztürme were above-ground, massive structures designed to protect German citizens in World War II. They were truly a marvel of construction, and there were a lot of them, enough to protect five percent of the civilian population in 70 cities throughout Germany. These buildings were nearly indestructible, and in fact after the war, many were simply left or repurposed since they were so difficult to demolish.
Hitler had these built in preparation for the war he planned, and understood that German cities would be mercilessly bombed, given that he was planning to bomb his enemies mercilessly. Compared to the Tube and makeshift British underground shelters, the German air raid protection buildings and towers were elegant, spacious, and even comfortable inside. They were above-ground because German engineers believed underground structures gave a false sense of security, and were subject to collapse, making it difficult to evacuate. British shelters were designed to protect one percent of the civilian population—five times less than the Germans.
Hamas can trace its roots back to the Muslim Brotherhood, which can trace its roots to the actual World War II Nazis. The Nazis spent years constructing shelters under the Führer-Sofortprogramm. Hamas spent years constructing deep, sophisticated tunnels under Gaza City and other areas of the Gaza Strip, but not for the use of civilians. Zero percent of Gazans, other than smugglers, terrorists, and the leaders of their group, can use the tunnels, which offer some protection from Israeli bombardment.
In a video, translated and posted on X/Twitter by MEMRI, Hamas political leader Mousa Abu Marzouk told a Russian interviewer “Everybody knows that 75 percent of the people in the Gaza strip are refugees, and it is the job of the United Nations to protect them.”
“According to the Geneva Conventions, it is the responsibility of the occupation to provide them with all the services as long as they are under occupation,” Marzouk continued, after noting “These tunnels are meant to protect us from the airplanes. We are fighting from inside the tunnels.” By “us,” Marzouk meant Hamas, not Gazan civilians.
The IDF released an audio clip last week a Gazan resident telling an Israeli soldier than Hamas is shooting at people who try to evacuate, in accordance with the many warnings Israel has given civilians, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
Israel is being excoriated in the press for attacking an apartment building that was no doubt filled with civilians who were not allowed to evacuate. The IDF says they targeted and killed a Hamas commander. Hamas says Israel killed at least 50 civilians. Unfortunately, I don’t doubt either report. Hamas does have a propensity to make up their own facts (like the hospital blast they blamed on Israel), but they also place civilians in harm’s way on purpose, to force Israel to decide whether it’s worth the price to kill their fighters.
Gazans elected Hamas as their government in 2006, but Hamas takes no responsibility for protecting the citizens who elected them. Hamas considers its only responsibility to destroy Israel. It has spent every penny staffing schools, raising young men to become terrorists, paying families of those killed in acts of terror, buying and building tens of thousands of rockets, and constructing some 400 to 500 kilometers of tunnels. None of those projects benefit or protect Gazans. The sole purpose of Hamas is to attack Israel and kill Jews. They “achieved” one of their fantasies on October 7th, butchering innocent Jews, and even putting a baby in a burning oven while gang raping the mother, before killing her while she heard her baby scream.
Most actual Nazis were gentlemen compared to these depraved, soulless beasts.
In World War II, U.S. intelligence knew that the Nazis were operating death camps and were transporting Jews in cattle cars by the thousands. Many Jewish leaders implored President Roosevelt and General Eisenhower to bomb the train yards leading to the death camps, and to bomb the actual camps. But the allied response was that the way to end the carnage was to destroy the Nazis, then document their atrocities in detail. Ike commanded that every possible atrocity be documented, because he knew that one day people would deny it happened.
People are already denying that Hamas’ atrocities happened. People are so steeped in their worldview that Israel is monstrous and the Palestinian “cause” is just that they are tearing down posters of the kidnapped children being held hostage and used as human shields by Hamas.
Hamas wants the world to join their cause simply because Gazans are dying. Gazans are dying because Hamas refuses to protect them. Meanwhile, Israel’s neighbors, Egypt and Jordan, don’t want to take a single Palestinian refugee on their land. Egypt has begun allowing foreign passport holders and some critically injured through its Gaza checkpoint, but is not allowing Palestinians to escape Gaza. Even Hizbollah and Iran’s vaunted Revolutionary Guard Corps are not committing to do more than harassing on Israel’s northern border.
The Arab diplomats at the U.N. in Turtle Bay join other nations in voting for a cease-fire, which Israel will not even consider. Why should they, when the clear path forward is the same one Ike took: Destroy Hamas and then document their atrocities. Most of the diplomats don’t mean what they vote for. They are performing on a stage, while Israel has to do the “dirty work” of removing a cancer so horrible that it makes the actual historical Nazis look like a civilized government.
There will be no bomb shelters found for Gazan civilians. Only the bodies of human shields, when the last tunnel is collapsed, and the last terrorist is rooted out of his rathole.
Follow Steve on Twitter @stevengberman.
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