Social media shaping views on Israel-Hamas conflict

The Heat

Israeli army deploymentEmpty cartridges are piled up at an Israeli army deployment near the border between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on July 28, 2014. The UN Security Council joined US President Barack Obama in calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, after Israel and Hamas ignored calls for a truce despite mounting civilian casualties. AFP PHOTO/DAVID BUIMOVITCH

As the conflict continues on the ground in Gaza the battle to sway public opinion is in high gear on air and online. Has the advent of social media opened a critical new front?

And who’s winning this digital war for hearts and minds? We examine the issue on The Heat.

Israel and Hamas continue to launch attacks in the Gaza war, despite going back and forth over proposals for a temporary halt to the fighting, the latest coming from the UN. The failure to reach even a brief humanitarian pause illustrated the difficulties in securing a more permanent truce.

Palestinian and Israeli casualties are mounting at a pace that could surpass any other Israeli conflict in nearly a decade. The 20-day war has killed nearly 1100 Palestinians, and injured over 5000, many of them civilians. Israel has lost about 50 soldiers and civilians.

It’s a conflict that continues to rage not only on the ground but in cyberspace as both sides have taken to social media to influence public opinion. We discuss the issue with our panel: from Nazareth, the former spokesperson for the PLO, Diana Butto. And in Washington, a senior advisor to the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Joshua Hantman. Twitter: @dianabuttu @JoshHant

Propaganda has long been a vital tool during times of war. But the tools available to shape public opinion have never been more instantaneous and more powerful than they are today. Computers, smart phones and the internet have changed just about every part of modern life. Now, through social media, technology is changing modern warfare. CCTV America’s Jim Spellman takes a look at how Hamas and Israel have taken to cyberspace in a 21st century public relations campaign. Twitter: @jimspellmantv

Technology: changing the way of modern warfare

CCTV-America’s Jim Spellman takes a look at how Hamas and Israel have taken to cyberspace in a 21st century public relations campaign.

To talk more about the social media battle we were joined in Washington by the former U.S. Secretary of State for Public Affairs, P.J. Crowley.  And from Johannesburg, a media advisor and the former head of online for Al Jazeera English, Mohamed Nanabhay. Twitter: @mohamed @PJCrowley