Reuters reports that Hamas claims it killed Israeli citizens "accidentally", and are therefore innocent of war crimes. Without wishing to burden the discussion with too many technical terms, this claim is bullshit.
Hamas and other Islamist organizations have routinely and almost exclusively targeted civilians throughout their history. To claim that they "accidentally" killed civilians during the Gaza offensive is idiotic. Hamas lobbed missiles into cities without regard to where they might land. It's like me firing a gun into a crowd, and then claiming I didn't mean to kill anyone. I doubt any jury in the world would buy that defense.
The bitter irony here is that when Israel makes a similar claim - that civilian deaths were accidental - public opinion condemns them without hesitation. Israel focuses on military targets, and occasionally - and accidentally - causes civilian deaths. Hamas, as I said, targets civilians deliberately. And yet the world condemns Israel.
Moreover, Hamas deliberately uses civilians as shields, shooting from behind them, compelling Israeli forces to choose between being slaughtered, or risking civilian casualties. Somehow, this detail gets lost in all the anti-Israel hysteria. Hiding behind civilians - even your own - is a war crime.
Hamas has refused to abandon its stated goal of exterminating Israel. That being the case, one can be excused for not believing that the civilian casualties were an accident.
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