Gaza war: What mistakes did the Israeli army make in the warning messages for the evacuation of citizens?

Research has revealed that numerous errors were made in the warnings (warning messages) issued to the residents of Gaza before the attacks by Israel. These warning messages contained conflicting and confusing information and sometimes even the names of the districts were wrong. 

Experts say that such mistakes can be considered a violation of international law by Israel. The Israeli military (IDF) has denied any such claims. In a statement, the Israeli military said the warning messages analyzed were “just one part” of a wider effort to protect civilians from harm. 

International humanitarian law requires (as far as the circumstances permit) that attacking forces must give effective warning before attacks that may harm the civilian population. Israel says its early warning system is designed to protect civilians during its war against Hamas. This system divides the map of Gaza into hundreds of numbered blocks. 

It is a system that the people of Gaza have never used before. Israel has created an interactive online map of the blocks to help Gazans know which block they are in, and which area they should leave when an evacuation warning is issued. 

In late January this post appeared on X from the IDF, providing a link to the master block map via QR code. However, the people we spoke to told us that not only did they face difficulties in accessing the online system, but it was also difficult to understand and identify errors in it. 

The Israeli army’s Arabic-language social media channels Facebook, X, and Telegram, where we found hundreds of posts containing warning messages. Sometimes the same warning was posted repeatedly with minor changes. Often these were posted consecutively or on different days on different channels. We also searched online for warning messages given by leaflets and leaflets that were photographed and shared on the internet and social media. 

The Israeli army says it has dropped 16 million such leaflets or leaflets from the air over Gaza. We focus our analysis on warning messages issued since December 1, when the Israeli military introduced its block system mechanism as a way to provide more precise instructions after coming under international pressure. 

We counted all posts and leaflets issued by the Israeli military that we found after that date into 26 separate warnings, the majority of which referred to the Israeli military’s master block system of civilian withdrawals from Gaza. Israeli forces said that alongside online warnings and leaflets, we also alerted citizens through pre-recorded telephone messages and individual phone calls to evacuate to a safe place before any attack.  

It is not possible to conduct comprehensive reporting or information gathering in Gaza and the phone network has been severely damaged so the BBC has been unable to gather evidence regarding messages and phone calls. Of the 26 warning messages we examined, information was given to civilians about safe evacuation in the event of a threat from Israeli forces. But 17 of them had errors. 

The Big Argument:

In December, Saleh, a tech entrepreneur from Gaza City, took refuge with his children and his in-laws in Nasirat, central Gaza. Where, according to him, there was no electricity or phone signal and there was also an internet outage for a long time. When they were bombed, they saw people dying and others fleeing from a nearby school, but they said they had not received any evacuation details from the Israeli army.