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The Moral Chasm Between Israel and Hamas
(Wall Street Journal) James T. Conway - Americans are understandably concerned when they hear that the majority of Palestinian casualties in the fighting between Israel and Hamas have been civilians and when they see images of houses in Gaza reduced to rubble and women wailing. Although American empathy for noncombatants is a critical component of who we are as a people, it should not blind us to reality: Israel's military exists to protect its civilian population and seeks to avoid harming noncombatants, while its adversary cynically uses Palestinian civilians as human shields while deliberately targeting Israeli civilians. In May, I toured a tunnel discovered less than one km. from an Israeli kindergarten. This Hamas tunnel was designed for launching murder and kidnapping raids. The 3-mile-long tunnel was reinforced with concrete, lined with telephone wires, and included cabins unnecessary for infiltration operations but useful for holding hostages. Hamas operatives have been intercepted emerging from such tunnels in Israel carrying tranquilizers and handcuffs, apparently hoping to replicate the successful 2006 kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, for whom Israel exchanged 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in 2011. The tragic reality is that no matter how much the IDF tries to avoid collateral damage, its operations will kill some number of civilians. As one Israeli commander told me, "The world judges Israel differently," regardless of its efforts to minimize civilian casualties. I suspect that he may be right. Gen. Conway, who retired in 2010, was commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.