The YouTube War In Gaza

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The Israeli military has its own broadcast channel for the war in Gaza, via YouTube of course. Though Israel is not the first nation to use the Internet to distribute military propaganda, it is clearly pushing the boundaries of what has been done before. You can follow Israeli soldiers as they plan missions, engage in firefights, and discover weapons hoards. It’s a bit like playing a video game.

This is, in short, the future of warfare. Just as political candidates can now bring their campaign messages directly to voters, war fighters can now act as their own media organizations. In this case, the Israel Defense Force brings us videos with titles like, “Israel Admits Child for Medical Care,” “Hamas Rockets During Cease-Fire and From Schoolyard,” “Night Strike on Hamas Terrorists,” and “Strikes Aborted to Protect Civilians.” The YouTube comment feature has been disabled for the videos.

Late last year Hamas reportedly started its own video file-sharing site AqsaTube, which gave instruction in combat techniques. According to Wired, the site was later disabled. Jihadists blame the FBI for demanding that the French service provider take it down.

According to the latest estimates, more than 1,000 have been killed in Gaza, reports the BBC. Nearly a third of the dead are reported to be children.