A note on the late Israel-Hamas battle

It's receded from the news, due to the fragile cease-fire. But didn't you get the impression from various media sources that a whole lot of Gazans wound up dead due to the fighting, and that a lot of it was Israel's fault? That's the play many media sources gave it. Problem--it's probably not true:

"Now we are told that Gaza suffered 1,300 killed and up to 4,000 wounded. These numbers come exclusively from Hamas sources and have not been independently verified. In fact, the numbers have been challenged by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, which put the number of dead between 500 and 600, the majority of whom were young men. Others suggest that as many as 1,000 may have been killed, the majority Hamas fighters."

And many of the civilian dead occurred because Hamas deliberately chose to shoot at Israelis from heavily civilian areas. They wanted Gazans to die, figuring that the media would blame the deaths on Israel. Those of us in the West need not fall into this trap.

Cease fire?

Hmmm--Hamas is sure talking tough:

"Hamas has said it will only observe a cease-fire if Israel withdraws from Gaza."

Then there may not be a cease-fire anytime soon, despite the conventional wisdom.
That's if Hamas really means what it says.

Misleading headline of the day

Headline seen on Yahoo News this morning:

"Impoverished Gazans suffer as ground assault continues."

Are they suffering? Perhaps. Let's not forget, however, that many of those Gazans support and cheer on the terrorists who practically daily launch rockets into southern Israel, seeking to kill Israeli women and children. Sometimes you reap what you sow.