Report: Israel Exaggerated Invasion to Lure Hamas Fighters into Tunnels, then Bombed Them

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) exaggerated the degree of its incursion into the Gaza Strip on Friday morning, in order to draw Hamas fighters into their underground tunnel network before the Israeli Air Force (IAF) could bomb them, a new report says.

On Friday, shortly after midnight, the IDF used Twitter to announce: “IDF air and ground troops are currently attacking in the Gaza Strip.” Many media announcements called it an invasion (Breitbart News noted only that Israel had “sent ground troops.”)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also added to the sense of a major ground invasion by tweeting a dramatic video address , vowing to restore “quiet and security to the State of Israel,” and adding that “this operation will continue as long as necessary.”

Those promises remain in effect, but the entire social media push appears to have been a ruse to cause maximum damage to Hamas — one in which Israel enlisted the international media, which played up the event to generate excitement and outrage.

Readers of Breitbart News were puzzled to note that in all of the photos emerging from Gaza, there appeared to be lots of explosions, but no photographs of actual troop movements.