Gaza war, 2

The New York Times, which in my general view holds Israel to a double standard, and is insensitive to the hate-filled and violent environment Israel must survive in, published an article today that was remarkable. Remarkable not because it supported Israel, but simply in its chilling and detailed description of the war as experienced by combatants on both sides.

Here are 2 quotes (indicated by italics), followed by a link to the whole article:
Hamas militants are fighting in civilian clothes; even the police have been ordered to take off their uniforms. The militants emerge from tunnels to shoot automatic weapons or antitank missiles, then disappear back inside, hoping to lure the Israeli soldiers with their fire. In one apartment building in Zeitoun, in northern Gaza, Hamas set an inventive, deadly trap. According to an Israeli journalist embedded with Israeli troops, the militants placed a mannequin in a hallway off the building’s main entrance. They hoped to draw fire from Israeli soldiers who might, through the blur of night vision goggles and split-second decisions, mistake the figure for a fighter. The mannequin was rigged to explode and bring down the building.

A new Israeli weapon, meanwhile, is tailored to the Hamas tactic of asking civilians to stand on the roofs of buildings so Israeli pilots will not bomb. The Israelis are countering with a missile designed, paradoxically, not to explode. They aim the missiles at empty areas of the roofs to frighten residents into leaving the buildings, a tactic called “a knock on the roof.”

Article: A Gaza War Full of Traps and Trickery, 1/10/09
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/world/middleeast/11hamas.html