Israel army pushes Gaza assault via Twitter, YouTube

PARIS (AFP) - As Israeli warplanes pound Gaza, the military has launched an unprecedented communications strategy on social networks by posting real time information about its assault on the Palestinian territory.

With live-tweets, videos on YouTube, updates on Facebook and graphics on blogging platform Tumblr, the tech-savvy Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have blanketed social networks with their take on the deadly assault.

The violence began on Wednesday afternoon with Israel's targeted killing of a top Hamas military commander, which kicked off a violent confrontation that has so far claimed the lives of 14 Gazans.

Since then, the army's Twitter account @IDFSpokesperson - which also exists in French (@Tsahal-IDF) and Spanish (@FDIonline) - has pushed out multiple updates on the operation using the hashtags #IsraelUnderFire or #PillarOfDefense.

A Palestinian boy pushes his bicycle through the rubble in an area targeted by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City in the early hours of Nov 15, 2012. The tech-savvy Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have blanketed social networks with their take on the deadly assault. -- PHOTO: AFP