Needed in Gaza War Reporting: Balance

As Israel exercises its right to defend itself, Hamas’s predilection for hiding its arsenals among civilians has been one of the main reasons for Israel’s ground incursion into Gaza, a campaign that already has cost the lives of several dozen Israeli soldiers. A more concentrated air offensive against Gaza would have put many more Palestinians at risk in heavily populated areas. Nor would an air offensive have been as effective in identifying and destroying the extensive network of underground tunnels used by Hamas for moving weapons and fighters. Some of the tunnels stretch under the border into Israel. In March, former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said these were “a new strategy in confronting the occupation and in the conflict with the enemy from underground and from above the ground”. For these reasons, a UN Human Rights Council inquiry into alleged war crimes by Israel in Gaza is one-sided.