In Defense of Truth :: By Robert Asher Mandel
I like to write about biblical issues, not political ones. I always have. But I cannot stand by silently and allow any Christian to wonder if perhaps the claims of “genocide” currently being shouted at Israel from around the world might contain some truth. So this article is an effort to shed the light of truth upon the current war with Hamas and to show that, quite the opposite of genocide, Israel is the only one showing any mercy in Gaza.
Recently, there have been studies published by statistics researchers informing us that the civilian death totals issued by Hamas authorities in Gaza cannot possibly be accurate. You can read them at these links:
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/how-gaza-health-ministry-fakes-casualty-numbers
Another reason to doubt the verity of the information issued by Hamas is because that organization has been caught spreading lies and disinformation since the very beginning of the current conflict. Consider just these four…
1—Hamas claimed that Israel fired a missile at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in October. The truth soon came out that it was the misfire of a Hamas rocket that killed hundreds of their own citizens. Even CNN, no friend of Israel, reports it here: https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/21/middleeast/cnn-investigates-forensic-analysis-gaza-hospital-blast/index.html
2—Hamas claimed that they never hid their operatives in Gazan hospitals. The IDF took extensive video footage of their findings at the Shifa Hospital and arrested hundreds of Hamas militants. Even CNN, no friend of Israel, had to report on this. https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/14/politics/white-house-hamas-al-shifa/index.html
3—Hamas claimed that IDF soldiers were firing on citizens of Gaza to keep them from getting to food shipments. Gazan citizens themselves are now reporting that Hamas has stolen most of the food and aid shipments from the people of Gaza. This would also be consistent with Hamas’s use of citizens as human shields. https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2024/0314/Hamas-gambled-with-our-lives-Gazans-are-now-daring-to-speak-out
4—Hamas denied ever using ambulances in Gaza for anything other than transporting wounded. Then a recording was made of a Hamas operative boasting about the routine use of ambulances for driving around Hamas militants. https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-operative-boasts-he-can-leave-with-any-ambulance-in-call-overheard-by-idf/
These four instances alone should convince reasonable people that Hamas consistently lies to advance their narrative and generate compassion from the West. But even if we put logic aside and assume that the death toll figures from Hamas are accurate, let’s compare them to the civilian death toll figures from WW2.
The allied war with Germany began in September of 1939 and ended in May of 1945. In Germany alone, the civilian death toll during those 68 months of war was 3,810,000. That total divided by 68 equals 56,029. That means that every month, 56,029 German non-combatant civilians lost their lives to the forces of America and their allies. If you then multiply that monthly total of civilian deaths by 7 (the number of months that Israel has been prosecuting their war in Gaza), you get the astounding total of 392,203 deaths! https://historylearning.com/world-war-two/civilian-casualties-of-world-war/
Compare that with the figure of 25,000 civilian deaths over the same time span in Gaza! (Hamas admits that their death toll includes dead militants). This all means that civilian deaths in Gaza are nearly 16 times smaller than civilian deaths in Germany in WW2! How can we understand such an amazing discrepancy?! Especially in such crowded urban spaces as Israel has had to fight in! It can only be explained by the unprecedented procedures Israel has used to warn the Gazan civilians in an effort to minimize their casualties. This is the opposite of genocide!
Newsweek magazine (another news outlet that does not usually take Israel’s side) published an article a few months back on this same topic. The author is John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute (MWI) at West Point; he served for 25 years as an infantry soldier and two tours in Iraq. Below is an extended quote from the article found at this link: https://www.newsweek.com/israel-implemented-more-measures-prevent-civilian-casualties-any-other-nation-history-opinion-1865613
Major Spencer writes this…
“…one of the best ways to prevent civilian casualties in urban warfare is to provide warning and evacuate urban areas before the full combined air and ground attack commences. This tactic is unpopular for obvious reasons: It alerts the enemy defender and provides them the military advantage to prepare for the attack. The United States did not do this ahead of its initial invasion of Iraq in 2003, which involved major urban battles to include in Baghdad. It did not do this before its April 2004 Battle of Fallujah….”
“By contrast, Israel provided days and then weeks of warnings, as well as time for civilians to evacuate multiple cities in northern Gaza before starting the main air-ground attack of urban areas. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) employed their practice of calling and texting ahead of an air strike as well as roof-knocking, where they drop small munitions on the roof of a building, notifying everyone to evacuate the building before a strike.
No military has ever implemented any of these practices in war before.
The IDF has also air-dropped flyers to give civilians instructions on when and how to evacuate, including with safe corridors. (The U.S. implemented these tactics in its second battle of Fallujah and 2016-2017 operation against ISIS in Mosul.) Israel has dropped over 520,000 pamphlets and broadcast over radio and through social media messages to provide instruction for civilians to leave combat areas.
Israel’s use of real phone calls to civilians in combat areas (19,734), SMS texts (64,399) & pre-recorded calls (almost 6 mil.) to provide instructions on evacuations is also unprecedented. The IDF also conducted daily four-hour pauses over multiple consecutive days of the war to allow civilians to leave active combat areas. While pauses for civilian evacuations after a war or battle has started is not completely new, the frequency and predictability of these in Gaza have been historic.
Another historical first in war measures to prevent civilian causalities was Israel’s distribution of IDF military maps & urban warfare graphics to assist civilians with day-to-day evacuations & alerting them where the IDF will be operating. No military in history has ever done this.
The reality is that when it comes to avoiding civilian harm, there is no modern comparison to Israel’s war against Hamas. Israel is not fighting a battle like Fallujah, Mosul, or Raqqa; it is fighting a war involving synchronous major urban battles. No military in modern history has faced over 30,000 urban defenders in more than seven cities using human shields and hiding in hundreds of miles of underground networks, purposely built under civilian sites while holding hundreds of hostages.”
Mr. Spencer writes this in his conclusion…
“Despite the unique challenges Israel faces in its war against Hamas, it has implemented more measures to prevent civilian casualties than any other military in history.”
Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir, once famously said these words: “We can forgive [the Arabs] for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children.”
In Exodus 4:22, God says this: “Israel is my first-born son.” The Jewish people have certainly strayed from their Father’s home and heart, but they still carry His DNA in their spirit. Our God (and theirs) has a heart of mercy and takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. I personally believe that Israel feels the same way. That is why we see their military acting in merciful ways as no other military force in history has ever done!
So, my appeal to the adopted Gentile sons of God is this: Do not believe the lies of the enemy about Israel. Pray for your wandering half-brothers. Ask Jesus to use the pressure and pain of their current situation to cause them to look up and “behold their God”!
Shalom,
Robert Asher Mandel
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