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Source: https://www.newsweek.com/more-accurate-accounting-war-gaza-opinion-1880784
A More Accurate Accounting of the War in Gaza
(Newsweek) Yaakov Katz - 30,000 Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza - it's a number you hear everywhere when talking about Israel's war against Hamas, and it is pointed to as the reason Israel must commit to a ceasefire. The fact that the number comes from Hamas makes no difference to any world leaders, even though none of them would ever think of quoting al-Qaeda or ISIS about their own death tolls during past American or British operations. In fact, many publications merely refer to the Gaza Health Ministry as if it was an independent agency without an agenda of its own. But it does have an agenda. The job of the ministry is to supply numbers that suit a terrorist regime in the battle for the world's hearts and minds. And why are these Hamas-generated numbers automatically believed when the credibility of Israeli sources - that 12,000 of the dead are terrorist fighters - are denied? It is an unpleasant fact of combat that civilians are always caught in the crossfire. But unlike Israel's enemies, the Israel Defense Forces have a code of conduct that works to ensure the fewest civilian casualties possible. Even if you take the Hamas numbers at face value, Israel is fighting this threat with far more care than is the norm. Why is it that so many around the world prefer the fabrications of Hamas to the facts on the ground? The writer is a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute.