Many on the left have excoriated Israel's response to a brutal terror attack by Hamas last month, with thousands of demonstrators recently accusing President Joe Biden of facilitating genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

However, a high-ranking official with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) recently alleged it is Hamas that is trying to maximize civilian deaths. 

Israeli pilots dropping leaflets warning Palestinian civilians to flee northern Gaza

According to Breitbart, IDF Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari laid out the claim during a press conference held this past weekend.

Hagari stressed that Israeli forces have "prioritized evacuation efforts over other missions" when conducting military operations in Gaza.

Special Media Briefing with RAdm. Daniel Hagari https://t.co/A97tei7XXg

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 5, 2023

He went on to state that pilots with Israel's Air Force have dropped more than 1.5 million flyers over the northern Gaza Strip advising civilians to flee south for their safety.

Images purport to show Hamas roadblocks preventing civilians from leaving

The rear admiral later played video footage that showed those leaflets being dispersed over the affected areas.

Hagari also pointed out that agents of the Israeli government have reiterated the same message via some 20,000 individual telephone calls to Palestinian civilians.

In contrast, Hagari asserted that "Hamas is actively stopping civilians from moving to a safer area," before adding, "Hamas is weak without human shields."

The military official then showed a video clip of a Hamas roadblock that was purportedly erected to prevent civilians from getting out of the Jabaliya refugee camp.

Hamas using hospitals as human shields to protect terror tunnels

Hagari then recalled how Hamas was previously caught using the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City to hide bunkers and supplies. The Geneva Conventions prohibits using medical facilities as a form of human shields.

The rear admiral also displayed images of underground tunnels constructed by Hamas under the Indonesia Hospital, from which the terror group also took fuel. Additionally, he played a video clip of a Hamas spokesman admitting on Russian television that the group focuses on building tunnels to protect its fighters rather than creating bomb shelters for civilians.

"Hamas moves fuel from the hospitals to terrorists … from Shifa Hospital to Jabaliya … because Jabaliya is a terror center," Hagari declared.

"We will not accept Hamas’s cynical use of hospitals to hide their terror infrastructure. Hamas’s exploitation of hospitals must come to an end," the military spokesman concluded.