Human Shields Pay the Price

Early Tuesday morning, the Gaza civil emergency service said 65 people were killed or wounded in an Israeli strike within a humanitarian zone, with casualties including women and children, but gave no breakdown between those dead and those injured.

The Shehab News Agency went further and reported that 40 Palestinians were killed in the strike. Arab news outlets generally emphasised the point that the strike took place in what is supposed to be a ‘safe zone’, showing photos of a huge crater and demolished tents.

But the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) quickly rejected Hamas’ claims and stated that they had hit a command-and-control centre which had been set up by Hamas in the humanitarian area near Khan Yunis.

The IDF claimed three senior Hamas terrorists were among the dead, naming them as Samer Ismail Khadr Abu Daqqa, Osama Tabesh, and Ayman Mabhouh; all three of whom were directly involved in the October 7th Massacre.

That challenge prompted many news outlets to modify their reports, especially when the Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip revised the death toll down to 19.

Unusually, the BBC’s report was even more cautious, stating just before noon that ‘at least 13 people have been killed’.

Even so, Melanie Phillips says Hamas’ strategy of using these designated humanitarian areas to place their terrorist infrastructure is a successful one because it repeatedly results in the Western media accusing Israel of inhumane behaviour.