Around two civilian deaths for every Hamas fighter killed in Gaza, admits Israeli military

At least two civilians lost their lives for every Hamas fighter killed in Gaza, said a report by news agency AFP, citing senior Israeli military officials, on Monday (Dec 4). This comes as Israel’s government and its army are facing mounting pressure from across the world to reduce civilian casualties amid the ongoing war with the Palestinian militant group.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also announced that they are deploying high-tech mapping software to try to reduce non-combatant deaths in the besieged Gaza Strip.

According to the Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry, nearly 16,000 people have been killed since Israel launched its retaliatory operations following the militant group’s attack on October 7 in southern Israel.

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What did the Israeli military officials say?

The comments by Israeli military officials were made during a briefing where they reportedly confirmed the reports of 5,000 Hamas fighters being killed in Gazaso far and said, “The numbers are more or less right.”

“I’m not saying it’s not bad that we have a ratio of two to one,” one of the officials told reporters, as quoted by AFP. The official added that the use of human shields was part of Hamas’ “core strategy”.

“Hopefully it (the ratio) will be much lower” in the coming phase of the war, said the Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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Israeli officials, as per AFP, also said that they areusing high-tech mapping software to track population movements inside the Gaza Strip and issue evacuation orders.

The systemincorporates mobile phones and other signals, aerial surveillance and reports from local sources, as well as AI, to maintain a constantly updating map to showpopulation concentrations across the territory.

However, the UNhumanitarian office OCHA has questioned the usefulness of such a tool whereaccess to telecommunications and electricity is sporadic.On Tuesday (Dec 5), Netblocks confirmedGaza residents were experiencing "a total loss of communications".

Israel’s ‘human shield’ claim

Israel has repeatedly accused the Palestinian militant group of using civilians in Gaza as human shields amid the ongoing war claiming that Hamas is hiding arms and command centres in residential areas and hospitals.

International humanitarian law has forbidden the use of human shields in war and such cases are seen as a grave breach of the Geneva Convention.

However, the alleged presence of civiliansdoes notmean that the warring nation cannot consider the site as a legitimate military target, but anyattack on such a site needs to be weighed against the principle of proportionality.

Israel along with airstrikes also launched a ground operation in Gaza as it seeks to eradicate Hamas after the militant group’s October 7 attack which, according to Israeli officials, killed at least 1,200 people and led to the abduction of around 240 others.

US, UN urgeIsrael to protect civilians

The United States, Israel’s key ally, on Monday said that it is too soon to say if Israel was doing enough to protect civilians in Gaza. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Washington also expects Israel to avoid attacking areas identified as “no-strike” zones in Gaza.

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A report by Reuters citing residents and journalists on the ground said Monday's intense Israeli air strikes in southern Gaza, the densely populated coastal enclave, included areas where Israel had told people to seek shelter.

The US also discussed with Israel how long the war with Hamas should continue, but Sullivan declined to share that timeline.

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to Israel to avoid further action which would make the already dire humanitarian situation in Hamas-run Gaza worse and spare the civilians.

“For people ordered to evacuate, there is nowhere safe to go and very little to survive on,” said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

(With inputs from agencies)

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.