As the debate continues to rage about the number of civilian
casualties on both sides, one aspect of the story isn't receiving
enough attention. Supporters of Israel have rightly noted IDF
efforts to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza and pointed out that
Hamas leaders purposely hide themselves and their arsenals among
civilians, who are used as human shields to give Israel pause, or
alternatively, to gain propaganda victories from civilian deaths.
Less focus has been given to explaining that one of the main
reasons that the death toll is relatively low on the Israeli side
is that Israel goes to great lengths to protect its own
civilians. Every building in Israel must be equipped with a bomb
shelter and they have developed an alert system to warn civilians
about incoming rocket fire. The IDF has a Homefront Command
branch specifically dedicated to coordinating civil defense and
educating the public about what to do in the event of a given
attack. Furthermore, if any Israelis are injured, the nation has
developed among the best emergency response medical services in
the world. So, putting this together, if you have one side that
puts its energy into protecting its own civilians and another
side that tries to keep its civilians in harm's way -- even
putting aside the variable that one party has a more powerful
military -- it isn't surprising to see more casualties among the
Palestinians than the Israelis.
