"Israeli Military Says Its Actions in Gaza War Did Not Violate International Law"; By Isabel Kershner; A10
Tiredly, she recounts the discrepancy between Israel's and Palestinian groups' civilian death counts.
To her credit, however, she quotes Maj. Gen. Dan Harel who brings attention to the kind of warfare that Hamas practices, which purposely puts civilians in danger as a way to gain international sympathy. Civilian casualties "'occur in all combat situations, in particular of the type which Hamas forced' on the army 'by choosing to fight from within the civilian population,'" he said.
This was the second time in the article that Kershner quoted the military's description of Hamas' tactics. In the second paragraph, IK prints a military statement which calls Hamas 'an enemy that aimed to terrorize Israeli civilians whilst taking cover' among Palestinian civilians' and using them as human shields.'"
Hamas' malevolent strategy has been underreported at times, but today, it receives adequate coverage.
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The Times gives Israel a better chance to explain its position four months too late.
ReplyDeleteIt is positive that the Times continues to re-examine the situation, but sadly, opinions have already solidified on the Gaza operation.
The article also includes some heinous statements by Human Rights Watch (HRW):
"Human Rights Watch called Wednesday’s statement by the military 'an insult to the civilians in Gaza who needlessly died.' The army leadership, the group said, is 'apparently not interested, willing, or able to monitor itself.'"
Unlike Hamas, Israel actually holds internal investigations to keep itself accountable. Israel has apologized for the unfortunate death for civilians. BUT Because Israel did not reach the same conclusions as HRW, it must be due to its own malevolence. And Hamas? HRW doesn't really care about Palestinian accountability.