In the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, one narrative dominates hostile media exchanges: civilian casualties — especially children.

It strikes a deep emotional chord — and rightly so. The death of any innocent person is a tragedy. But the death of a child should transcend politics.

Yet in Gaza, the innocents are victims of Hamas, which deliberately brought war to their doorsteps when it invaded Israel on October 7, 2023 — and then used them as human shields throughout the war by fighting in civilian areas.

We must also be honest: there is no such thing as a “clean” war. From ancient times to modern warfare, civilians have always been caught in the crossfire. The real question is not whether civilians die — but why and how, and who made it inevitable.

What Hamas is doing in Gaza isn’t just reckless — it’s criminally malicious. Hamas has embarked on a calculated strategy to maximize not only Israeli deaths, but Palestinian ones too. Hamas launches rockets from apartment blocks, stores weapons in schools, uses hospitals as command centers, and hides beneath UN facilities.

Each of these is a war crime — and every one of them is committed with intent.

To Hamas, every civilian death is a strategic victory. Why? Because it knows — and tragically, it is right — that images of Gazan casualties will be weaponized to turn public opinion against Israel and smear its name on the world stage.

And it’s working.

In war, mistakes happen — sometimes tragic ones. Israel is no exception. But crucially, when mistakes occur, Israel admits them, investigates, and takes corrective action. That is what democracies do.

Hamas, by contrast, deliberately endangers its own civilians — because that serves its narrative.

There is no moral equivalence between a country trying to protect civilians and a terror group using them as shields and human sacrifices.

Yet the failure of much of the international community to recognize this is a moral collapse — resulting in empty gestures and virtue-signaling, like the recent joint statement signed by 28 countries, including Australia, calling for an unconditional ceasefire that would leave Hamas in power.

That statement completely ignored the work of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has delivered more than 95 million meals and bypassed corrupt UN aid systems that Hamas routinely exploits to feed its fighters and fund terror.

Is it any wonder Hamas praised the statement?

Hamas knew that its October 7 invasion and massacre would set off a chain reaction leading to Gaza’s devastation and tragic loss of life. It correctly calculated that as images of carnage circled the globe, international pressure would mount on Israel to stop the war — even as Hamas vowed to repeat the attacks of October 7 again and again.

So to expect Israel to stop fighting while Hamas remains in power is absurd and unprecedented.

Would the UK, France, or the US ever allow such a threat to exist on their doorstep? Of course not. So why would — or should — Israel?

This is where the hypocrisy lies. Israel is expected to:

• Fight a war unlike any other in history;
• Feed its enemy’s population through corrupted international bodies;
• Avoid all civilian casualties — something no military has ever achieved;
• Provide exact, real-time casualty figures on the local population while still engaged in house-to-house combat.

During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, neither the US nor the UK could provide reliable figures on civilian deaths.

Back then, even Pentagon spokesman Jim Turner admitted: “I have nothing on Iraqi civilian casualties.” (2004)

And then British Foreign Minister Jack Straw dismissed media estimates entirely: “This is an estimate relying on media reports, and which we do not regard as reliable … It relies on media reporting to decide who is a civilian and who is not.”

Sound familiar?

Today, many of those same governments and media outlets treat Hamas’ Health Ministry numbers as gospel — even though Hamas refuses to distinguish between civilians and combatants. They claim roughly 58,000 deaths. Israel estimates it has killed about 25,000 terrorists.

Even if we take Hamas’s figures at face value — which is generous — that would mean something like a 1:1 civilian-to-terrorist ratio. That is far lower than in Afghanistan (3:1) or Iraq (4:1), according to former British Armed Forces Commander Col. Richard Kemp.

And unlike the US and UK in Iraq and Afghanistan, which delivered aid primarily after combat zones were secured, Israel is facilitating humanitarian assistance in real time — even as it fights an enemy embedded among civilians. That level of restraint and risk is virtually unprecedented in modern warfare.

Chastising Israel for failing to meet impossible standards no other nation has met — while ignoring Hamas’ atrocities — is not just hypocritical. It is complicity.

We must stop pretending this war is being fought between equals. It isn’t.

One side fights to defend its people. The other fights behind its people.

One side seeks peace. The other seeks only destruction and endless conflict.

If the world wants peace, it must start with truth.

And the truth is this: Israel isn’t just fighting Hamas terrorists, tunnels, and rockets. It’s fighting a global campaign of lies.

Justin Amler is a policy analyst at the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).