Israel sought to refute President Joe Biden’s claims of “indiscriminate bombing” on Monday by releasing a video montage of airstrikes in Gaza that were abandoned because of the close proximity of Palestinian civilians.
The Israeli government has already rejected the accusation, saying last week that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is “making efforts that no army in history has made in order to protect civilians. Even American news agencies have refuted the claim, with ABC News reporting last week that Israel has in fact used a “historically high level of precision weapons usage in urban warfare.”
On Monday, during the visit of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Israel produced more evidence, including videos of Israel Air Force (IAF) strikes that were called off:
In a statement, IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said:
Our war is against Hamas, not against the people of Gaza.
Hamas sees civilian death as a strategy, we see it as a tragedy — which is why we use many measures to try and minimize the civilian harm and suffering — that is the tragic reality — in this war that Hamas started.
We warn civilians before attacks, whenever possible. We also recommend civilians to temporarily move away from areas of intense fighting.
We know this is hard, but we are trying to save lives.
We have also offered international organizations to set-up humanitarian zones. We use tactical pauses to allow for the evacuation of civilians — and the distribution of humanitarian aid.
Israel is not restricting the amount of humanitarian aid that can enter Gaza.
We abort attacks when we see unexpected civilian presence. We choose the right munition for each target — so it doesn’t cause unnecessary damage.
We know civilians in Gaza are suffering. This is because of Hamas’s strategy and tactics
and because Hamas steals the international aid — meant for them.Our intent is to defeat Hamas and secure the release of our hostages. The tragic suffering of civilians in Gaza — is not our intent. Our actions reflect this.
Israel has released similar videos in previous conflicts; the videos above are, by far, the highest quality of any produced thus far.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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