In Operation Pillar of Defense, Why Are There More Casualties In Gaza Than In Israel?

One of the propaganda points being exploited by Hamas terrorists to distract from their targeted attacks on Israeli civilians is to blame Israel for the casualties resulting from the war that they themselves started.

The nature of the terrorist attacks themselves already points to the answer.

As Arlene Kushner points out, Hamas disregard for human life extends from Israel to Gaza:

It is important to point out, as figures are released on the number of Israeli civilians vs. the number civilians in Gaza who have been killed, why there will always be an imbalance, with more dead in Gaza:

• We protect our civilians. We sound sirens to give them warnings. We provide shelters for them to run to. We give advice on how to be safe and close schools in areas at risk. In certain areas -- notably Sderot -- we have reinforced homes and other buildings.
  
  
• Hamas does none of this to protect their civilians. Instead, Hamas deliberately sets up situations that make their civilians more vulnerable. For Hamas, the fact of dead civilians is a weapon to use against Israel -- they care not a bit for the lives of these people.

These basic facts should never be forgotten."

One might have thought that the fact that Israel takes more precautions to save Gazan lives than Hamas does should tell Gazans something about their "leaders"

There is an additional aspect to the cause of Gazan casualties, that goes from Hamas disregard for human life to outright negligence.

Thus, Elder of Ziyon asks the question How many Gazans are killed by Hamas munitions?:

The latest bimonthly Gaza NSO Safety Report notes that in the second half of October there were 59 rockets fired from northern Gaza towards Israel. Of those, eight of them fell short or exploded on the launch sites.

Historically, between 15-30% (sometimes even 40%) of Gaza rockets do not make it to Israel. And many Gazans have been killed or injured as a result of those misfirings. most recently with the death of 18 month old Hadeel Haddad last June and also the previous August.

And in both those cases, the lying Gaza government claimed that the deaths were due to Israeli airstrikes.

Similarly, in the Hamas rocket barrage that immediately preceded Cast Lead (that no one remembers), two girls were killed by a Qassam rocket. A UNRWA school was hit last December. And on and on.

Based on these percentages, Elder of Ziyon notes that if even 20% of the rockets fired by Hamas now are landing in Gaza, that would amount to over 65 rockets having fallen in Gaza just until Friday -- and of course that number could be even higher.

We may even have an example of a Gazan killed by a Hamas.

But Elder of Ziyon notes the evidence that the child was killed by Hamas, as Elder of Ziyon writes: Dead child cradled by Egypt's PM was killed by Hamas!

In the picture below, published by The Mirror (UK) among others, on Friday the caption reads:

Egypt's Prime Minister wept today as he kissed the forehead of a boy killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza.

However, there are multiple reasons to believe the Gazan child was killed by a rocket launched by Hamas:

• The explosion happened during a visit to Gaza by the Egyptian prime minister , during which time Israel (as opposed to Hamas) did not launch any airstrikes
  
  
• The New York Times notes the damage was not severe enough to be caused by an Israeli F-16
  
  
• The New York Times raises the possibility that an errant Hamas missile was responsible
  
  
• AP notes that local security officials quickly removed the remains of the projectile, making it impossible to verify who fired it -- as Elder of Ziyon notes, if the remains were of an Israeli rocket, you can be sure Hamas would be quick to show off the wreckage.

Read the whole thing

I wonder how the Egyptian Prime Minister feels, being played for a dupe by Hamas.

More to the point, one wonders how Gazans feel being fired upon by their own government.

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Technorati Tag: Israel and Gaza and Hamas and Operation Pillar of Defense.