Israeli army uses SMSs to terrorise Gaza residents

Occupied Jerusalem: "We, the Israeli Defence Army call upon you not to support terrorists, Hamas offers you illusions, as did Hezbollah in Lebanon, we will not have mercy on terrorist supporters... We will shell your houses in half an hour, leave before it is too late."

Those were voicemails and SMS messages received by many Gaza residents in the past few days, sent to them by the Israeli army.

Abu Rami, 45, lives in Rafah, south of Gaza. In the beginning, he considered the matter an insensitive joke, but decided not to take a chance. Once he poked his head outside his home, which was badly damaged by Israel away from international media cameras, he saw an Israeli tank approaching, shelling houses in the vicinity.

Abu Rami escaped with his wife and 10 children, in search of a remote area where Israeli bombs do not reach.

"Using SMS messages to terrorise Palestinians in Gaza is illegal," said Ahmad Abu Marzouk, the Director of the Palestinian telecommunication company in Gaza.

'The company is looking into suing the invasion army for its illegal usage of the Palestinian telecommunication network, because this is against international law," Abu Marzouk told Gulf News.

He also said that the Israeli army called some citizens on their telephones asking them to evacuate their homes before bombing them.

One Palestinian woman said that hearing she has received an SMS message on her mobile phone makes her nervous and frightened as it could be a text message from the Israeli army.

However, Shlomait, 44, from Al Khudaira expresses different sentiments, for an SMS message means news from her son who is leading a selected unit in the Israeli army.

SMS messages have become the most popular means of communication since the beginning of the war on Lebanon more than three weeks ago.

These messages are also the means used by Israeli soldiers to break free from the severe army measures, before entering Lebanon, as the army is not allowed to carry mobile telephones in battlegrounds.

Despite this fact, Uvair who is an Israeli soldier, was able to send his mother an SMS message, telling her he was injured in the battle of Maroun Al Rass.

Uvair's mother and his family hurried to hospital to the astonishment of the battalion's commander.

The commander emphasised the prohibition of mobile telephones, for fear of the phones falling into Hezbollah's hands and it tapping into them.

Officials in the three mobile telecommunication companies in Israel say that SMS messages have increased by 80 per cent since the invasion of Lebanon, which means added profits for all three companies.

These companies are also encouraging Israelis to use SMS messages to ease the minds of relatives and loved ones after every rocket attack, claiming that telephone lines are under great pressure.