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TRUE OR FALSE. Is the Israeli offensive in Gaza less deadly for civilians than other recent conflicts in the Middle East?
As civilian casualties multiply in Gaza, Israeli officials try to defend themselves by explaining that other recent wars led by Western forces in the Middle East were even deadlier for the populations. What about it? – (franceinfo)
As civilian casualties multiply in Gaza, Israeli officials try to defend themselves by explaining that other recent wars led by Western forces in the Middle East were even deadlier for the populations. What about it?
As part of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, senior Israeli military officials put forward a ratio of 2 civilians killed for every 1 Israeli combatant. Hamas beaten down. A figure difficult to verify, but that the spokesperson for the Israeli government Eilon Levi presents as positive. Eilon Levi compares the war against Hamas to three conflicts led by Western powers in the Middle East. Wars that can be compared, because they were fought against unconventional armies practicing guerrilla warfare.
This is the case of the war in Afghanistan, which pitted the United States and several Western countries against the Taliban regime from 2001 to 2021, and the war in Iraq, which pitted a coalition led by the United States against each other. to insurgent groups and members ofAl-Qaeda between 2003 and 2011. Finally, this is also the case for the military interventions carried out by the international coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria from 2014 to 2021.
A particularly deadly Israeli offensive for civilians
These conflicts havebeen more deadly for civilians? According to NGO reports independent, in these three conflicts taken as an example by the spokesperson for the Israeli government, the number of combatants killed is approximately similar to the number of civilians killed. This gives a ratio of approximately one civilian killed for one combatant killed, or half as much as currently for the conflict in Gaza. Contrary to what Israeli officials claim, it therefore appears that the Israeli offensive is particularly deadly for civilians, even compared to recent wars led by Western forces.
