Comment & Debate
“Defending Israel’s Operations in Gaza”. Aisha – Why is Israel bombing Gaza when innocent civilians are being killed?
Israel never targets civilians. The death of innocent civilians is regrettable under any circumstances and every effort is made to avoid civilian casualties. That imperative must be balanced with the need to protect Israeli civilians, who suffer from ongoing attacks from Gaza. But while the Palestinians fire Kassam rockets indiscriminately into Israeli territory, Israel launches pinpoint strikes at Hamas infrastructure. Prior to launching any large-scale attacks, Israel spent many months identifying Hamas’ strongholds and training facilities. The Israeli Air Force also managed to hit “secret” targets such as underground missile launchers and arms caches — a testament to Israel’s great effort to ensure that air strikes weaken Hamas without harming innocent Palestinians.
Israel does not want a humanitarian crisis, and Hamas is the cause of the suffering and distress of the population there.
Unfortunately, Hamas has never shown the same level of concern for either Israeli or Palestinian civilians. On one hand, Hamas has fired thousands of missiles into Israeli territory, killing and wounding hundreds.
On the other hand, rather than seeking the well-being of the Palestinians under its control in Gaza, Hamas has exploited its civilian population — and Israel’s reluctance to cause civilian casualties — by placing non-combatants in and around areas likely to be targeted by Israel. Hamas brings women and children up to the roofs of buildings housing terrorist activity in an attempt to prevent air strikes; it sends civilians to the line of fire; it works out of schools and mosques; it fires rockets out of crowded population centers; and it sends Palestinian mothers to murder Israeli children in suicide attacks.
In addition, many of Hamas’ arms smuggling tunnels are hidden beneath the homes of Palestinian civilians.
This cynical use of human shields is illegal under international law and the cause of many needless Palestinian deaths. Therefore, the responsibility for Palestinian civilian casualties lies with Hamas, not Israel.