Senior fighters are mostly in hiding,.. "I keep drinking water, and I pray"

[Procrustes Stretched]

Then he left to go get paid.

He took up the accusation that Hamas fighters hid behind civilians. Fighters, in a way, are both, he argued, and are accepted by many residents as defenders. People bring them food, he said. Sometimes they oppose rockets being launched nearby, but often they do not.

“I’m a civilian, and I’m a fighter,” he said.

Senior fighters are mostly in hiding, the fighters said. Many have not moved for days, staying in basements or bunkers. With limited access to phone networks, in part because of fear that signals will draw missile fire, some have been cut off altogether during the military operation, and sit alone.