The post from Hamas, in Arabic, telling Gazans not to post photos of its militants. Photo: IDF / Screenshot.

Hamas on Wednesday told Gazans on Facebook not to post photos of its “martyrs of the resistance,” as the information would aid Israel.

The post, found and translated by the Israeli Defense Forces, helped explain why the media coverage of the month-long Operation Protective Edge featured so few photographs of dead Hamas militants, instead focusing the media eye on civilian loss.

“The Ministry of the Interior and National Security would like to make our people aware that they should refrain from disseminating photographs of martyrs of the resistance,” the post from Hamas said. “Do not disseminate the location of their death in battle, because the enemy collects these details and uses them to justify and excuse its crimes.”

An IDF translation of the Hamas Facebook post, instructing Gazans not to post photos of dead Hamas militants. Photo: IDF / Screenshot.

Readers of the IDF’s Facebook page noted the irony.

Karl Simpson wrote, “Translate that out of politician talk into regular joe: Please hide the evidence that justifies Israels attacks against HAMAS so we can continue getting sympathy from people who only read the headlines.”

The IDF said, “Hamas posted this Facebook message urging Gazans to stop publishing photos of terrorists killed in battle. The goal? 1) To hide Hamas’s losses and claim that civilian deaths are higher than they actually are. 2) To prevent the world from seeing where these terrorists fight: In urban areas filled with civilians.”