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Israel's Heroic Restraint

(National Review) Deroy Murdock - Last November, the goal of Israel's Operation Pillar Defense in Gaza was to foil the Palestinian rockets that rained down on Israel, including the outskirts of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The operation involved striking some 1,500 targets. Before the IDF hit the Hamas-operated targets, it scrutinized them to protect the safety of non-combatants. This objective is complicated by the fact that Hamas routinely locates its weapons among civilians, in total violation of the Geneva Convention and some 700 years of the just-war tradition. The IDF took multiple steps to protect Palestinian civilians. First, IDF aircraft released leaflets to tell people that they should evacuate the area. Britain's Col. Richard Kemp said: "When possible, they left at least four hours' notice to civilians to leave areas designated for attack, an action that handed a distinct advantage to Hamas." The Israelis then dropped a small, low-impact bomb on the roof of the targeted building - calling it a "Knock on the Door." This tells people the IDF is not kidding and will return soon to take care of business. Rather than encourage the civilians to flee, Hamas told them that it is their Islamic duty to remain in their apartments and become martyrs. The writer is a media fellow with the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace at Stanford University.
2013-08-23 00:00:00
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