Public Comment

The escalation that lead to the explosive exchange of rocket and missile fire between Israel and Gaza could have been avoided. The presence of Israeli forces had lead to rock-throwing protests at and around the Al Aqsa Mosque, leading up to the Islamic holy night of Laylat al-Qadr. Hamas had demanded that Israel remove all of its military and police forces from the Haram al Sharif mosque by 6 pm on May 10. Israel ignored the demand.

A Google search for "who started the Israel/Gaza war" states that Hamas started the conflict by firing rockets at Israel. This accounting totally ignores the escalating violence that proceeded—and provoked—the Hamas attack. 

The conflict actually began on May 6 when Palestinians in East Jerusalem gathered to protest the imminent eviction of six Palestinian families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah. Hundreds of Palestinian were injured in ongoing clashes surrounding the forced evictions in Sheikh Jarrah. 

On May 7, Israeli police stormed the al-Aqsa mosque during a worship service in the last days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. More than 300 Palestinians were wounded when Israeli police stormed the mosque firing tear gas, stun grenades and potentially deadly rubber-coated steel bullets. 

On May 8 (an Israeli national holiday), another 600 people (mostly Palestinians) were injured by Israeli police forces. 

On May 10, Hamas demanded that Israel withdraw its security forces from Sheikh Jarrah and the Temple Mount complex by 6 p.m. or risk further escalation. Despite an international outpouring of condemnation over Israel's abuse of Palestinian protesters, Israel ordered its armed forces to remain arrayed at the mosque and inside the contested neighborhood. It was only after Israel ignored the Hamas threat of retaliation that the first rockets were launched from Gaza. 

Of the 4,300 rockets fired from Gaza, 680 (about 16%) fell short and never made it outside the Gaza Strip. As for the remainder of the rickety, mostly handmade rockets fired at Israel, the US-supplied Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted 90% of them 

The initial flurry of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad rockets damaged several homes and a school. There were no immediate casualties. 

Israel responded with a disproportionate air-and-artillery assault that destroyed nearly 1,000 structures, flattened four high-rise buildings, damaged 40 schools, 19 medical facilities, four hospitals, and the al-Shati refugee camp. 

Counting the Dead 

After a ceasefire was declared, following 11 days of devastation and death, Reuters reported that Israel's airstrikes had destroyed many miles of "militant" tunnels and killed "25 senior [Hamas] figures." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted as boasting that Israel's attacks had killed "200 militants." 

As of May 20, The New York Times reported, the 11-day clash had killed "at least 230 Palestinians." By May 21, the body count was raised to 248 civilian deaths—including 36 women and at least 66 children. Another 1,900 Palestinians were wounded. 

By May 26, the Gaza Health Ministry updated its figures and announced that the 11-day siege had claimed 254 Palestinian lives, including 39 women and 66 children. 

And here's where the confusion begins. 

The number of civilians reported slain (254) was similar to the number of Hamas militants that Netanyahu claimed to have killed (200). This raised a question: When the Western media referred to 200-plus Palestinian civilians killed, did Netanyahu possess a separate list of 200 militants killed? 

On May 22, Israel clarified the confusion—somewhat. According to The Independent, "Israel says, of those Palestinians killed, around 160 were combatants." 

But if 160 of the 254 Palestinians killed were "militants," then 94 of the dead would have been innocent civilians. And if there were 105 women and children among the dead, that would mean Netanyahu was counting some of these women and children as "militants." 

On May 26, Hamas leader Yehiyeh Sinwar told the AP that 80 militants were killed during the conflict—a figure that was more realistic than Netanyahu's unsupported claim that 79% of the Palestinians who perished were militants. 

Say Their Names 

The number of Israeli rocket casualties is also a bit misleading. Press accounts have placed the number of Israelis killed by Hamas missile strikes at 12. But according to the International Middle East Media Center, the list of "Israeli casualties" attributed to Hamas rocket strikes included two Palestinians living in the "unrecognized" village of Dahmash, an Israeli Defense Force sergeant killed by an anti-tank weapon, and a woman from India who was working as a housekeeper in Ashkelon. That reduces the number of Hamas missile deaths to nine. 

On May 12, a rocket fired from Gaza killed Ido Avigal, a five-year-old boy who was huddled with his family in a bomb shelter in Israel. Ido was not a "militant." His death was a tragedy and a crime. Similarly, the bombing deaths of more than 29 Palestinian children under the age of 10 (also not "militants") is also a tragedy and a crime. 

For an extensive review of both the Israeli and Gazan casualties (including names, ages, dates, locations, and circumstances of death) see the report "Say Their Names" on the Environmentalists Against War website. [Full disclosure: I am a co-founder of EAW.] Warning: the photographs are disturbing. 

Is Google Biased?  

A Google search for "How many rockets has Israel fired at Palestine 2021?" produced a link to "List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel in 2021—Wikipedia." A Google search for "Israel rockets bomb Gaza" returned links to "Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel." 

Similarly, Google could provide no data on how many Israeli bombs and missiles were fired at targets in Gaza City. A (partial) answer was found (after a search) on Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based news agency. 

While there was no exact total, Al Jazeera offered some examples. On May 18, Israeli jets dropped 122 bombs on Gaza in the span of 25 minutes. Before dawn on May 19, Israel's bombs flattened a residential building, killing four Palestinians, including al-Aqsa radio reporter Yousef Abu Hassuin. The Palestinian Ministry of Health was targeted for heavy bombardment. And, according to UNICEF and Save the Children, 53 Gaza schools were damaged by Israeli strikes, affecting 41,897 children. 

Lullaby for a Palestinian Child 

In Beirut in 1980, Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz wrote this lullaby as Israeli helicopter gunships rained fire down upon Palestinian camps inside Lebanon. 

Don't cry child,
your mommy has only
just cried herself to sleep. 

Don't cry child,
just a while ago
your daddy took leave
of all his sorrows. 

Don't cry child,
your brother has gone
to another land chasing
after his butterfly dreams. 

Don't cry child,
your sister has married
and left for another country. 

Don't cry child,
in your courtyard
they bathed the dead sun,
and buried the moon,
before leaving. 

Don't cry child,
if you cry,
mommy, daddy, sister, brother,
the moon and the sun, all 

will have you made even sadder. 

But maybe if you smile,
they will one day all return
in a different guise
to play with you.