Israel has the lowest proportion of civilians killed in war compared to soldiers; is it time for a change?
By Walter E. Block
The average figures regarding this phenomenon are that, apart from the IDF, for every combatant killed in wars, nine civilians meet their maker. That is a one to nine ratio. What of the IDF in Gaza? Here, the ratio is much lower: 1:1.5. That is to say, for every two Hamas terrorists dispatched, only three civilians are slain, not eighteen.
And the ratio would be even lower, far lower, if the IDF did not have to fight building by building, street by street. It would be reduced even the more if Hamas did not commandeer women and children Gazans to be used as shields. They did so by placing rocket, missile, drone launchers in the midst of hospitals, Mosques, schools, residential areas. It would be further decreased if Hamas did not steal the food sent into this unhappy corner of the word by Israel.
Does Israel get credit for the deaths of so few civilians, relatively speaking? To ask this is to answer it, of course not. But a bit of evidence on this matter may not be amiss in this context.









