Dec. 27, 2024
Dear Editor,
There is some crucial information missing from the New York Times report about the IDF using AI to target Hamas combatants that under normal circumstances would expose civilians to danger. There is no information about how the IDF has gone to extraordinary lengths to move civilians out of the way to save their lives. This task has not been easy because Hamas uses civilians as shields and there are many accounts of Hamas shooting at fleeing civilians to deter them from depriving it of its civilian protection. The very fact that Hamas uses civilians as human shields speaks to its knowledge that the IDF does not target civilians, that it does everything it can to protect them.
It is ironical that in anti-Israel circles, Israel has come under fire for moving civilians out of harms way. Apparently inconveniencing civilians to save their lives is now a war crime. It's lose, lose for Israel anyway you look at it.
As for the inflated casualty figures reported by the New York Times, Hamas body counts list dead Hamas combatants as children or journalists, this alongside other information casts doubt on the number of casualties. It is journalistic malpractice to uncritically accept Hamas generated death statistics. But worse, as long as Hamas generated misinformation is reported by the media resulting in Israel being blamed for killing innocents, there will be no incentive for Hamas to stop fighting and return the hostages because it is winning the cognitive war, and in its culture that is everything.
Larry Shapiro,
#12-68 Baycrest Place, S.W.
Calgary. Alberta Canada T2V 0K6
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