Israel says 'killed two Palestinians for every Hamas fighter’, calls ratio ‘tremendously positive’

06 Dec 2023, 11:07 by Livemint · Mint Business News - Official Channel · Join

Israel and Hamas fighters' war in Palestine's Gaza have been going for two months now. According to Gaza's Health ministry over 16,000 Palestinians have lost their lives in Gaza. Meanwhile, in an interview with CNN, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has informed that they have killed ‘two Palestinian for every Hamas militant’ in their relentless bombing and intensive ground offensive in Gaza.

The war in Gaza restarted after failed peace talks between Israel and the Hamas this week.

Asked about reports that about 5,000 Hamas fighters had been killed since 7 October, one of the Israeli officials replied, according to AFP, “The numbers are more or less right."

IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus has said that over 10,000 civilians in Gaza have died, corroborating that Gaza's Health Ministry reports a total death toll not segregating civilians and combatants.

Conricus told CNN, “I can say that if that is true – and I think that our numbers will be corroborated – if you compare that ratio to any other conflict in urban terrain between a military and a terrorist organization using civilians as their human shields, and embedded in the civilian population, you will find that that ratio is tremendous, tremendously positive, and perhaps unique in the world."

The IDF spokesperson had earlier called the ratio of killings “tremendously positive."

Conricus’ remarks sparked a backlash however, with a United Nations spokesperson on Tuesday describing them as “tasteless."

The IDF estimates that Hamas was comprised of around 30,000 fighters before October 7, when it launched an unprecedented attack on Israel

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told journalists during a press conference on Saturday that the military has killed “thousands of terrorists." The Israeli military has not officially published any estimates of those killed.

During the 50 days of hostilities in Gaza in 2014, 2,251 Palestinians were killed, of whom 1,462 were believed to be civilians, according to the United Nations. That equates to a ratio of 1.8 civilians for every non-civilian.

More people have died in the ongoing war between Benjamin Netanyahu's Israel and Hamas fighters from Gaza than in any of Israel’s past conflicts with either Hamas or other Islamic militants in the Gaza Strip.

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Israel says 'killed two Palestinians for every Hamas fighter’, calls ratio ‘tremendously positive’

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