In Gaza, Hamas and Islamic Jihad publish daily reports both on Palestinian casualties, and on IDF soldiers whom they claim to have killed. We have good reason to believe — see below — that they exaggerate the numbers of both. The IDF also releases daily figures on its own casualties. Whom should we believe? More on this continuous clash of the numbers can be found here: “The media doesn’t believe everything the terrorists say – only what they want to believe,” Elder of Ziyon, February 9, 2024:
On Wednesday, Islamic Jihad’s Palestine Today site gave details on a number of alleged attacks by terror forces against the IDF:
The Mujahideen of the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, and the Mujahideen of the Al-Qassam Brigades were able to target an Israeli special force consisting of 10 soldiers holed up in a house in the fighting axis west of the city of Khan Yunis, with two anti-personnel shells and clashed with them with machine guns. Al-Qassam announced that the Mujahideen had confirmed that the force had caused deaths and injuries.
Ten IDF soldiers were holed up in a house, and Al-Qassam’s fighters “caused death and injuries” to them, but no numbers are given. Are we meant to conclude that all ten of the soldiers were killed? We should make our own estimate, based on the killed-to-injured ratios of IDF casualties.
Al-Saraya [another one of the armed brigades] claimed responsibility for targeting an Israeli military bulldozer with an RPG shell, killing those inside it and setting it on fire, in the vicinity of the Al-Amal neighborhood, west of Khan Yunis.
How many crew members are normally on an IDF DS9 military bulldozer? Two: the operator and the commander.
Al-Saraya published a brief statement in which it conveyed the confirmation of its mujahideen, after their return from the areas of clashes, that they were able to kill all members of an Israeli force of 7 soldiers, which was holed up in a residential apartment in the vicinity of Al-Hawouz near the Hayat School, west of the city of Khan Yunis, after targeting it with a “TBG” shell.
Earlier this week, Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida claimed Hamas had killed 15 IDF soldiers in the previous 24 hours.
Hamas also claimed this week to have destroyed 962 Israeli tanks during the war.
This is a fantastical figure. In fact, Israel has lost fewer than three dozen tanks so far in the Gaza War. Yet this figure put out by Hamas is not held up for ridicule when it puts out such numbers; instead, when its claims reach this level of absurdity, the Western media simply don’t report them.
In the real world, three IDF soldiers have fallen this month.
Let’s add up the number of IDF soldiers killed in the first eight days of this month. First, the Hamas and PIJ figures: Ten soldiers were killed or wounded while holed up in a house on the western edge of Khan Younis. Let’s assume, conservatively, that three of the ten were killed, and seven wounded. Seven soldiers were reported killed in a house near Al-Hawouz; fifteen more reported killed later, within the space of just 24 hours. In addition, the two-man crew of a military bulldozer were killed. That’s a total of 27 IDF soldiers killed, according to Hamas.
The IDF has announced that in the same period, three IDF soldiers have been killed. The media never discuss this astonishing discrepancy, nor why we have reason to believe that Hamas always lies about these figures, and the IDF always tells the truth. Here are two examples that support that view. In 2020 Hamas accused the IDF of committing a “massacre in Jenin” in which “500 civilians were killed.” According to Israeli and American intelligence, there was no massacre. In fact, only 52 Palestinians were killed, at least 45 of whom were members of terrorist groups, while 23 IDF soldiers were killed in close-quarters combat.
A more recent example is Hamas’ claim that “Israeli airstrike that killed 500 people inside the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza.” Western intelligence sources agree that Israel’s version of the deaths is correct. There was no Israeli airstrike but, rather, a missile shot by Palestinian Islamic Jihad from Gaza that fell short, and landed in the parking lot of the hospital, not on the hospital itself. And there were not “500 civilians” who were killed, but between 10 and 50. Israel had nothing to do with that attack or those deaths. But that hasn’t stopped Hamas from continuing to claim that “an Israeli airstrike hit the Al-Ahli Hospital, killing 500 people.” So that is why, when the IDF says it has lost three soldiers from February 1 to February 10, and Hamas says it has killed at least 27 IDF soldiers in the same period, we would do well to believe the Israeli figure.
Mainstream media ignore these obviously false statements by the terrorists. They know they are lies, so they almost never even mention their claims.
Yet when the same spokespeople claim hundreds of Gaza civilians are killed every day, the same media has no problem believing it. There is no skepticism. The media just adds “according to Gaza health officials” and pretend that they’ve done their jobs….
Shouldn’t the media at least make clear that “these figures come from Hamas, which in the past has proven most unreliable”? Instead, the media report these claims about Gazan civilians killed without a hint of skepticism.
Shouldn’t all conscientious members of the media agree to a kind of warning label for consumers to accompany their news about Gaza? To wit: “Numbers of casualties on both sides are right now impossible to verify, but Hamas has a long record of lying and the IDF an even longer record of telling the truth.”
That would be enough. That would be more than enough.
Stive says
So what’s the problem as Hamas believes their martyrs go to Allah so more is good.
tim gallagher says
Spot on, Stive. These scum from hamas should all want to hasten off to that great big whorehouse in the sky that Muslims think they will go to if they are “martyred”. And for all the civilised non-Muslims in the world the more of the hamas scum that are wiped out the better. It is a win-win situation. Go the IDF.
Rick Olsha says
no matter what, AM ISRAEL CHAI !!!!!