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To as many as 2100. With likely more as Gazan authorities retrieve more bodies from the rubble.
Consider this a place for discussion.
Consider this a place for discussion.
Quick clarification: the exact number of civilian casualties is unknown at Stalingrad, but if you take the most conservative estimate of civilians killed in one of the 26 weeks of the battle via aerial bombing and use that as an average, it comes out to greater than the number of Soviet soldiers killed (according to Russian archives, of course) throughout the entire battle. This doesn't include other non-discriminatory attacks like artillery barrages.Keep in mind the Israelis are claiming that roughly fifty percent of the casualties are civilian. That makes the Israeli bombardment of Gaza (by their own standards, which every reputable neutral party disagrees with) as concerned with civilian life --proportionally-- as were the Nazi operations at Stalingrad.
while alot of the casualties are civilian, the fact is that Hamas is using civilians as human shields by making their headquarters in public places like hospitals and storing munitions in places like schools so that when the israelis go to clear it out and civilians get caught they can claim that the israelis are killing their people when Hamas put them in harms way in the first place.
the IDF (the isreali defense force) goes to great lengths to try and keep civilains out of harms way, most often by dropping leaflets a day before a bombing saying something along the lines of "we are going to be bombing this place at this time tommorrow please clear out".
If they choose to not leave or are forced to stay by Hamas that is not israel's fault.
Human shields myth said:Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East editor: "I saw no evidence during my week in Gaza of Israel's accusation that Hamas uses Palestinians as human shields."
The Guardian: "In the past week, the Guardian has seen large numbers of people fleeing different neighbourhoods.. and no evidence that Hamas had compelled them to stay."
The Independent: "Some Gazans have admitted that they were afraid of criticizing Hamas, but none have said they had been forced by the organisation to stay in places of danger and become unwilling human-shields."
Reuters, 2013: "A United Nations human rights body accused Israeli forces on Thursday of mistreating Palestinian children, including by torturing those in custody and using others as human shields."
War crimes said:Human Rights Watch: "Israeli forces may also have knowingly or recklessly attacked people who were clearly civilians, such as young boys, and civilian structures, including a hospital - laws-of-war violations that are indicative of war crimes.
Amnesty International: "Deliberately attacking a civilian home is a war crime, and the overwhelming scale of destruction of civilian homes, in some cases with entire families inside them, points to a distressing pattern of repeated violations of the laws of war."
while alot of the casualties are civilian, the fact is that Hamas is using civilians as human shields by making their headquarters in public places like hospitals and storing munitions in places like schools so that when the israelis go to clear it out and civilians get caught they can claim that the israelis are killing their people when Hamas put them in harms way in the first place.
the IDF (the isreali defense force) goes to great lengths to try and keep civilains out of harms way, most often by dropping leaflets a day before a bombing saying something along the lines of "we are going to be bombing this place at this time tommorrow please clear out".
If they choose to not leave or are forced to stay by Hamas that is not israel's fault.
Don't be a twit. The whole point of international law (to say nothing of morality) is that the aggressor power --particularly the one with the space-age precision weaponry-- has the responsibility to continually monitor its bombardment areas for civilian life and then stop any bombardment if it detects civilians. If civilians are unable (elderly mother with chronic disease who can't move, perhaps) or unwilling to move, then Israel should and must not attack.
That's it. No ifs, ands, or buts.
You uh... you really love your purple prose, don't you? lol
I think Palestine should be inducted into the UN, honestly. That's not going to change anything over night, but I think it'll be a good move toward brokering negotiations. I don't respect Hamas as an organization but I think it's weird to hold them in disdain for not coming to the diplomatic table while simultaneously decrying the notion that they're a legitimate government worthy of negotiating with.
And in the short-term, sigh. Israel just needs to gtfo of the Gaza Strip.
Tee-hee. Oh you.
The problem is Israel wants all the land. Gaza's a handy distraction as it continues to set up more settlers (now nearing a million!) in the West Bank. Even so, with the right leverage you could get Israel to settle for the 1967 or the (fairer) 1948 lines. But the only country with leverage has been captured by Israeli lobbies and special interest groups.
So yes. As Americans we have a special responsibility here. The real question is whether at this point we even really want a two-state solution. Yes, it harms our standing in the Muslim world, but the geopolitical calculation has always been that Israel is a handy outpost for projecting American power.