Blind eye turned to Israel’s plight

BY ZION EVRONY, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO IRELAND

Reprinted from The Irish Times

The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) made every effort possible to avoid civilian casualties, using hundreds of thousands of leaflets, phone calls and radio broadcasts to warn of impending attacks, and aborting missions where civilians were in the line of fire. However, in any war, accidents are unavoidable and regrettable.

Nevertheless, overall res-ponsibility for civilian casualties must be placed where it belongs: on the cruel and cynical Hamas "human shield" tactic. Objective reports now accept many civilians were deliberately placed in harm's way or killed in crossfire initiated by Hamas or hurt in houses and other buildings Hamas had booby-trapped. Ignoring Hamas' responsibility for these civilian deaths only encourages Hamas to use this technique.

Regarding the reported numbers of civilian casualties, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (Camera) has pointed out that in the statistics supplied by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), males 15 or older—the age category of Hamas fighters—are three times more numerous among casualties than in the population as a whole, raising the suspicion that the PCHR has misclassified Hamas fighters as civilians. The identities of 880 of those killed confirms 580 belonged to Hamas and other terrorist groups, against fewer than 300 noncombatants.

That said, the death of even one innocent civilian is a tragedy. Like all Israelis, I am pained by the deaths of civilians, and Israel's leaders have expressed deep sorrow over all innocent casualties.

Another part of the anti-Israel narrative is the claim that Israel's response to Hamas rocket attacks, while justified in principle, was disproportionate. Despite all the political and media comments, I have yet to hear a single suggestion as to what a "proportionate" res-ponse, or a realistic alternative strategy, might have been to combat Hamas attacks.

Engaging with Hamas would grant legitimacy to that terrorist organization, and be disastrous for the Palestinians. Not only would this constitute a serious blow to the two-state solution championed by Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the international community, but the rise of Hamas would doom Palestinians to a future ruled by jihad, religious extremism and the edicts of Sharia.