In Gaza, dispute over civilian vs fighter deaths

As reported in 'The Japan News' : In Gaza, dispute over civilian vs fighter deaths 1:19 am, August 10, 2014 The Associated Press In this file photo taken on July 7, masked militants march with guns as they attend the funeral of the two Fatah militants, Marwan Sleem and Mazin Al-Jarba, who were killed by an Israeli airstrike, in Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza Strip.

The Associated Press GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP)—In the grisly math of the Israel-Hamas war, conflicting counts of combatants and civilians killed in Gaza are emerging—with the ratio perhaps more important to shaping international opinion of the monthlong conflict than any final toll. The United Nations and rights groups operating in Gaza say about three-quarters of the around 1,900 Palestinians killed were civilians, including 450 children, with many perishing in strikes that killed several family members at a time. Israel estimates that between 40-50 percent of those killed in Gaza were fighters. While the overall count is not in great dispute, those doing tallies use different methods and standards to make that all important determination of who is a civilian. The U.N. and human rights groups rely on witness accounts and community contacts of field researchers to distinguish civilians from combatants. Mahmoud AbuRahma of the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights said his researchers require at least two sources and count on their local ties to determine if someone was a combatant or civilian. For its part, Israel has said it uses its own intelligence reports to determine who among the dead belonged to Hamas or other militant groups. The ratio of civilians to combatants could be used by either side to promote their narrative of what took place in the conflict. Israel faces growing international criticism over the large number of civilians killed in Gaza, with U.S. President Barack Obama and U.N. chief Ban Ki Moon both saying Israel could do much more to prevent harm to noncombatants. U.N. researchers start out with figures from the ministry, the media and other sources, but then cross-check them with the help of Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights groups. The U.N.’s overall number of 1,922 killed is slightly higher than that of the Gaza Health Ministry. The United Nations said nearly 73 percent of the total, or 1,407, were civilians, defined as those who did not take part in hostilities and were not members of armed groups. According to Matthias Behnke, head of the U.N.’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Palestinian territories, the classification of civilians and combatants is based, in part, on witness accounts and field researchers’ knowledge of their local communities. “Gaza people do know each other and there is a good network of identifying people,” he said. Figures are preliminary and a more thorough investigation would follow after the war, he added.