Gaza death toll: A look beyond the numbers

The international media almost invariably includes the death toll prominently in any article on the war in Gaza. A typical casualty count looks like this:

 In nearly four weeks of fighting, more than 1,700 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed as well as nearly 70 Israelis, almost all soldiers. (The Toronto Star, 3 Aug. 14)

Of course to a whole lot of readers these numbers look extremely lopsided, and are followed by the nagging thought: Hamas is killing IDF soldiers, while the IDF is killing civilians.

The reason is painfully obvious, but needs to be reiterated at every opportunity. Hamas has been trying, unsuccessfully, to kill a large number of civilians in Israel.

Instead, they have only managed to kill IDF troops inside Gaza, using guerrilla warfare tactics. Their most effective fighting tactic has been to pop up out of labryinth tunnels in small squads, shoot and retreat back into the tunnel.

Hamas combatants are well protected, while Gaza civilians are left up on deck.

Meanwhile the Western media is obsessed with Gaza, although nothing comes close to the routine brutality of ISIS. As one Yazidi in Sinjar told the New Yorker, “I don’t see any attention from the rest of the world. In one day they killed more than 2,000 Yazidi in Sinjar, and the whole world says, ‘Save Gaza, save Gaza.’ ”

Palestinian casualty figures are likely to be inflated by the inclusion of natural deaths and Hamas executions of suspected collaborators and civilians killed by misfired Hamas rockets. According to Jane's Defence Weekly, at least 850 rockets fired by Hamas landed in the Gaza Strip.