OPINION NICHOLAS KRISTOF So Many Child Deaths in Gaza and for What?

[Uncle Joe]

A woman carries the body of her child who was killed in an airstrike on a house in Gaza.Credit...Haitham Imad/EPA, via Shutterstock

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The Gaza health authorities say that 16,248 people have been killed in the enclave so far, about 70 percent of them women and children. It’s impossible to verify the figures, but human rights monitors say the figures are credible and have proved reliable in the past. A senior Biden administration official told Congress that the reported figures may well be an undercount (presumably because of bodies unrecovered under the rubble).

(snip)

The savagery of the Oct. 7 attacks precipitated the bombardment, of course, and Hamas continues to hold hostages. Every bit of diplomatic pressure should be applied to Hamas to free those hostages and, in the meantime, to allow them visits by humanitarian workers. The penchant of some American progressives to tear down posters for hostages is nauseating, as is the wave of antisemitism that we’ve seen in both the United States and Europe.

There is a distinction: Hamas deliberately killed and kidnapped children on Oct. 7. Israel is not deliberately killing Palestinian children; it is simply bombing entire neighborhoods with far too little attention to civilian life. There is a moral difference there, but I wouldn’t want to try to explain it to grieving parents in Gaza.

While recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself, how is it advancing its security by flattening large areas with 2,000-pound bombs? The United States has repeatedly counseled Israel to use smaller bombs and more surgical strikes, in part to avoid turning tactical victories into strategic defeat.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/opinion/gaza-israel-deaths.html

[onecaliberal]

1. Good question. I can't wait to hear the answer.

[sheshe2]

2. I believe Hamas needs to answer that very question.

[LuvLoogie]

3. So that Bibi can keep his job.

We'll see if it works, I guess.

[Skittles]

4. everything about this conflict is sickening

it's just disgusting that people behave like this