Hamas Twitter hashtag campaign appears to backfire
Twitter users mock militant group for alleged use of human shields in Israel war
A Twitter hashtag campaign launched by Hamas to build support in the West appeared to backfire with users mocking the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza.
The #AskHamas campaign promised responses from the group's leaders, or as they called it: "Truth from the mouth of the horse." Some Twitter users responded with mockery, one asking if a masked Hamas gunman was "single and ready to mingle".
Others criticised Hamas for hiding weapons and fighters in civilian areas in its war last summer with Israel, with one asking Hamas "how it chooses human shields".
The Gaza war left more than 2,100 Palestinians dead, the majority of them civilians, according to Palestinian and United Nations officials.
Israel says the number of Palestinian fighters killed was much higher and accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields and storing weapons in schools. On the Israeli side, 66 soldiers and six civilians were killed.
A Twitter user whose profile identified her as an Israeli diplomat asked: "Given a choice, is it better to hide a weapons cache in a hospital's radiology or paediatrics unit?" Another Tweeter asked: "Now serious question - looking back to summer 2014, was it worth it?"