Why have the Civilian Casualties of the Israel-Palestine War so high?
As war continues throughout the Gaza Strip, many people in the US take to the streets to protest how Israel is fighting and about refugees caught in the middle. But what has caused the war between the two and why are the civilian casualties so high?
Ever since the end of WWII, the Middle East has been a hotbed of conflict. With so many ethnic groups in such a small area, there have been many disagreements. Israel has always been a sore topic of discussion for many of the countries in the area as it contains a significant city, Jerusalem, within 3 major world religions: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. The area is ripe for conflict between the three religions as they fight for their beliefs.
Today, we see a continuation of these conflicts as the terrorist group Hamas, with its base in the Gaza Strip and control over the Palestine Government, goes to war with Israel. This is not the first time the two have been in conflict as Hamas has attacked Israel four times in the past two decades (2008, 2009, 2014, and 2021). According to the Wall Street Journal, in each attack, Iran helped fund and plan the launching of thousands of missiles at Israeli targets. This prompted the US to help fund Israel in the development of Operation Shield and Arrow to be able to counter the missiles.
On October 7th, 2023, Hamas launched about 5,000 missiles at Israel and sent over 2,500 Palestine Insurgents into the surrounding Israeli territory where they killed over 1,400 people and captured another 200+ to be prisoners. Many of the casualties were civilians the Israeli government reported. Israel retaliated by launching their airstrikes killing well over 5,000 Palestinians most of whom were civilians. As of writing this article, the number of Palestinian casualties has risen to over 9,000 and the Israel Defense Force (IDF) has started a full ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
The actions of the IDF have sparked many protests throughout the US and Europe with protesters calling for peace between the two sides. On October 27th, 2023 the United Nations (UN) voted in an overwhelming majority for a cease-fire between the two nations. This sparked even more protests as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is getting worse and worse as about 1 million Palestinians have been displaced due to the conflict which is only half of the already existing population according to the Associated Press (AP). But is the IDF really at fault for many of the horrors going on in the Gaza Strip?
Many media sources would have you believe this as many reported the bombing of the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in the Gaza Strip on the night of October 14th. Many media sources such as CNBS, CNN, and Fox News all reported that Israel had bombed the hospital and killed up to 500 people. But just over the next 24 hrs. reports from the IDF came in showing that the bombing had been a misfire from a Hamas missile system and had only blown up vehicles in the parking lot of the Hospital. Hamas and Palestinian officials have also claimed that it was the IDF according to the Guardian. Furthermore, there has been more misinformation spreading about the IDF targeting civilians and refugee camps.
The reason for attacking the refugee camps was to kill a major Hamas leader the IDF told National Public Radio (NPR). IDF claimed that over 200 refugees were being kept underground to be used as hostages. Also, Israel has sent messages to the civilians near and in the places they have targeted asking the people living there to evacuate if they do not want to get caught in the attack. However, many people have not moved out due to the Palestinian government has ignored these messages. Also, according to the Russian News, Hamas is using these people as human shields to protect their insurgents.
There is devastation seen from both sides of the war but one thing remains and that is that they will fight to the death. The UN has been trying to push the two governments to reach a peace settlement. Israel refused due to the way they had been attacked so suddenly and viscously with citizens being executed live on social media by Hamas insurgents. Also, the UN is concerned about the Palestinian refugee crisis with over 1 million people displaced by the war, and the nearby countries of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon have refused to take in any refugees. This is due to concerns about other Hamas insurgents coming into their country, the Queen of Jordan Rania Al Abdullah told her country in a statement earlier this week.
In conclusion, this war is just getting started, and with information still coming out about Iran being heavily involved with Hamas, the whole world is holding its breath. The US has two carrier strike groups in the area running patrols day and night and Iran has been giving more and more resources to the Palestine government to help them fight the war. But still, questions remain about who to listen to for information on the war, what will happen to the citizens of the Gaza Strip, and how will this affect world politics going forward.
