Dear S,
You have asked about
greater civilian casualties in Gaza compared with those in Israel and wonder why Hamas does not defend its
citizens.
With respect, you are
missing the point. Hamas wants more casualties (in order to draw
international support) and Israel wants less. Proof?
(A)
Hamas is not shooting rockets at Israel but at Israeli civilians.
That's a war crime. It does so to provoke an Israeli response against its
citizens. Israel is not attacking Gaza, it is attacking the Hamas missile
caches, launchers and their operators.
(B)
Hamas stores and launches its missiles from schools, hospitals, mosques and
homes. That's a war crime. Israel avoids attacking those launchers when
it feels there might be innocent Gazan civilians there.
(C)
Before Israel attacks it drops leaflets, sends
thousands of personal sms's and phone calls warning Gazan civilians to keep
clear. Hamas, knowing Israel avoids attacking civilians threatens
its own people that they must stay. As the Israeli Prime Minister said, Israel uses missiles (Iron Dome anti missile system) to
protect its civilians, while Hamas uses its citizens to protect its
missiles.
(D) Israel is a regional super power. It could
easily and swiftly achieve its objectives by blowing the attackers - and the
civilians surrounding them - to smithereens. Instead:
- Israel has spent billions on defence of its own citizens. Hamas spends nothing on civil defence but everything on building missiles to attack Israel.
- Israel sends in its own soldiers, who are often injured and killed, instead of aerial bombing, in order to attack specifically militant targets and to reduce Arab civilian deaths.
(E)
Hamas claims it wants Israel to stop shooting. When Israel stopped shooting under a first ceasefire,
Hamas openly rejected it and kept shooting. When both Hamas and Israel
agreed to a UN sponsored ceasefire to allow Gazan civilians a few hours
to come out and get food and medical help, Hamas kept firing at Israel
during the ceasefire, hoping to provoke a response causing death to more of
its civilians. Israel held back. (See http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/US-lauds-Israeli-restraint-after-Hamas-failure-to-uphold-ceasefire-362936).
(F)
Hamas missiles sometimes misfire and land on Gazan civilians, killing them -
Did you know that? Hamas missiles have damaged electricity lines cutting off
supplies to its own civilians, Israel Electric Company employees have gone in -
under fire - to repair the lines, to avoid humanitarian disaster amongst Gazan
citizens - did you know that?
(See http://www.israel21c.org/news/israel-electric-workers-brave-rockets-to-restore-power-to-gaza/)
(G) Israel is the real human rights champion here: The only reasons casualties are so
low is because Israel is so careful to preserve life - that
of its own citizens (by neutralising Hamas launching capacity) - as well as
that of Gazan citizens (by avoiding strategic strikes that may harm citizens
and warning them of pending attacks).
The question is not, Why
are Gazans suffering more casualties than Israel? (Hamas clearly wants its people to
suffer casualties, to appear weak, to garner international support).
The real question is –
How many more
casualties would there be on both sides if Israel did not exhibit restraint and make such efforts to protect
human life?
Israel wants a diplomatic solution, without violence, and to that end clearly differentiates
between Hamas in Gaza, the people of Gaza (who actually elected the Hamas government) and
Fatah, in the hope of encouraging at least one of these as a partner.
Don’t get me wrong – this is war and war
is not pretty. Mistakes happen, on the spot combat decisions must be made,
people die. But before a diplomatic solution is reached and while rockets are
being lobbed at my family and friends, and I am busy running for cover as missiles explode around me, I invoke my (and Israel's) just and natural right to
self defence.
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