Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have defended sharing an inaccurate map of Lebanon annotated with Hezbollah military positions and warehouses, saying the map was for “visual illustration” purposes.
The official IDF Twitter account posted the map titled “Declassified map of Hezbollah’s military infrastructure in Lebanon” on Tuesday, highlighting more than 80 towns and villages and thousands of spots it said were home to sites such as rocket launchers and infantry positions.
“This is a war crime,” the tweet’s caption said, alongside the tagline “Hezbollah’s hiding behind Lebanon’s civilians.”
It was shared hundreds of times before one Twitter user pointed out that the picture couldn’t be a declassified military map because the image’s history showed it been created using Google Maps by an IDF spokesperson account, and featured repetitive patterns.
The map – which according to the Times of Israel was construed as an IDF attempt to build a case for future military action and demonstrate Israel’s sophisticated intelligence-gathering capabilities – was shown to foreign diplomats visiting Israel, local television reported.
When asked for comment, the IDF confirmed that the map is inaccurate, calling it in effect “an illustration of what is going on in Lebanon”.
“The illustration reflects how Hezbollah has positioned its terrorist infrastructure within the civilian arena,” a spokesperson said.
The IDF has used social media extensively in the last few years as part of a hearts and minds campaign to combat terrorism carried out by groups hostile to Israel such as Hezbollah and Hamas.
Israel has attacked two Hezbollah sites in Lebanon in the last two weeks, the militant movement claims. Israel has not confirmed or denied its involvement.
