Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday evening thanked John Spencer, chairman of the Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, for his efforts to correct the record regarding Israel’s efforts to mitigate harm to civilians during military operations in Lebanon and Gaza.
“No nation is attacked by more propaganda than Israel. Truth and Israel will prevail,” the prime minister said in an X post in response to an earlier post by Spencer.
Spencer had written that the “reality is very different from the rhetoric,” with the Israel Defense Forces taking “extraordinary measures to mitigate civilian harm in Lebanon. In fact, as in Gaza, it employs more civilian harm mitigation measures than any military.”
“The IDF issues evacuation warnings through multiple channels including text messages, phone calls, voicemails, flyers, radio, television, and social media. It operates dedicated civilian harm mitigation cells, tracks civilian presence through drones, cell phone data, and other ISR capabilities, and uses rigorous targeting processes that include legal reviews and proportionality assessments for any planned strikes,” he wrote.
“In southern Lebanon, these measures are particularly effective because civilians can move away from military objectives and active combat areas,” he said, adding that in Beirut, IDF warnings are so reliable that Lebanese place cameras in advance to film the strikes.
To be very clear: reality is very different from the rhetoric. The IDF takes extraordinary measures to mitigate civilian harm in Lebanon. In fact, as in Gaza, it employs more civilian harm mitigation measures than any military in past or current operations.
— John Spencer (@SpencerGuard) June 19, 2026
The IDF issues…
