The latest reports from the Gazan “Health Ministry” state that the death toll has topped 16,000. Of course, such figures must be taken with a grain of salt. The “Health Ministry” officials work for Hamas, a terrorist organization which routinely lies. Moreover, the number does not distinguish between Hamas soldiers and true civilians. Nor do the figures account for the inhabitants killed by Hamas’s or Islamic Jihad’s own rockets, 20% of which fall into Gaza.
But even allowing for exaggeration and fabrication, there is little doubt that the Gazan civilian death toll far exceeds the number of Israelis and other nationalities murdered by Hamas on October 7. This lack of “proportionality” has become a problem for the Biden administration. Its support for Israel, rock solid right after October 7, has softened and become more qualified as the toll increases.
On his third trip to the Middle East since the war began, Secretary of State Blinken declared that America’s support requires Israel’s “compliance with international humanitarian law.” He urged Israel “to take every possible measure to avoid civilian harm.”
Two days later, Vice President Harris issued a similar statement after a meeting with Egyptian President el-Sisi: “Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed,” she said. “Frankly, the scale of civilian suffering and the images coming from Gaza are devastating.”
Are these lectures deserved?
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