(RepublicanJournal.org) – As Israel continues its operations against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, Western leftists are protesting furiously about the rising death toll. Gaza health authorities are reporting thousands of civilian deaths, almost half of them children. But can we trust these claims? President Biden is doubtful.
Israel Is Hitting Gaza Hard
On October 7, Hamas terrorists swarmed across the border into Israel and murdered at least 1,400 people — mostly civilians — in a series of brutal atrocities. In addition, more than 200 Israelis were kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip as hostages. In retaliation, Israel declared war on Hamas and launched a military operation aimed at wiping out the Iran-backed terror group’s regime in Gaza.
Because Hamas hides its headquarters and weapons in civilian areas, it’s unfortunately inevitable that civilians will be killed in Israel’s strikes. Now the body count is mounting; on October 25 the health authorities in Gaza were saying more than 6,000 Palestinians have died since the Israeli strikes began. That day President Biden held a press conference at the White House with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and one journalist asked him about the claimed casualties.
Unusually, Biden managed a reply that was clear and left no room for doubt. He said he has “no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed,” adding that “I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war.” He then commented that Israel needs to be careful about the targets it hits, pointing out that it’s not in their interests to kill civilians unnecessarily, before repeating “I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using.”
Who Should We Believe?
No doubt many Liberals are outraged that Biden seems to be accusing the Palestinians of lying about their casualties, but there’s an important point we need to remember: The Gaza health authorities, who are the main source of data on civilian casualties, are controlled by Hamas. The Islamist group has been the government in Gaza since they seized power in 2007 after a disputed election, and the medics who are releasing these casualty figures work for them.
Is there reason to doubt the accuracy of the numbers? Yes, definitely. Hamas claimed that over 500 people were killed by an Israeli missile at Gaza’s al-Ahli hospital on October 18. Western intelligence agencies say the blast was actually caused by a Palestinian rocket, and European agencies believe there could have been fewer than 50 deaths.
The internet is also spawning memes about a Hamas “crisis actor” who’s been photographed in a hospital bed and then filmed a video of himself looking healthy the next day. Are civilians dying in Gaza? Yes, they are. Are the numbers as high as Hamas are claiming? Probably not.
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