Hamas Lies and Omissions on Gaza Casualties
Yes, the numbers of listed civilian deaths is questionable and the Data shows it.
Many of those claimed to be civilians were in fact Hamas Fighters.
http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=118&x_article=1603
January 16, 2009 by Steven Stotsky
Gaza Casualties: Civilian or Combatant?
Note: This page is periodically updated as new information becomes available. It was most recently updated on Jan. 29, 2009.
In the aftermath of Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, controversy rages over whether Israel used indiscriminate and excessive force. Israel defends its actions claiming that ¾ of the fatalities were Hamas members or other combatants opposing Israeli forces. The Palestinian claim, echoed in much of the media coverage, is that the vast majority of the fatalities were unarmed civilians.
A complicating factor in quantifying the number of civilian casualties is the call by Hamas leaders for their members to shed their uniforms and fight in civilian clothing ( "Gaza War Full of Traps and Trickery,"New York Times, Jan. 11, 2009).
CAMERA examined the data collected by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), which provides the most comprehensive tally of casualty figures in Gaza. The results of CAMERA's analysis are summarized below.
• By cross-checking with other sources, CAMERA has identified a number of Hamas fighters and members of other Palestinian terrorist groups who were either misclassified by PCHR as civilians, not identified as combatants, or omitted entirely from their tabulations. This raises serious questions about the accuracy of PCHRs casualty statistics.
• An analysis of the fatalities by age and gender shows that the majority of civilian fatalities recorded by PCHR are males between 15 and 40 years old, the same age profile as the combatants. This also should raise concern that significant numbers of combatants may have been misclassified as civilians.
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statistical analysis of the data raises questions about the accuracy of PCHRs application of the civilian label to adult men and to male teenagers.
Table of tabulated PCHR data from Weekly reports
Time period combatants security force other males
18- 40 yrs
males
>40 yrs
males
15-17 yrs
children
women
>18 yrs
Total from update for 12-27 to 12-31 48
165
77 "civilians" not listed separately
33
11
Identified in updates for 1-1 to 1-21
148
4
269
87
55
151*
69
Summed total of individuals named or identified by status 196
169
433
55
184
80
Difference between summed reports and PCHR sum total
27
-2
70
41
31
PCHR reported total to 1-14 223
167
503
280
111
* this number excludes males age 15-17.
These statistics raise questions about the accuracy of PCHR's data and its labeling of combatants and civilians. First, there is an unusually high proportion of fatalities in the adult male group, the same group which provides nearly all of the combatants.
• Out of 1285 fatalities, at least 950 were males aged 15 or higher. While males over age 15 make up approximately 25 percent of the Gaza population, they made up over 74 percent of the fatalities.
• Where the data is broken down by age, it is clear most fatalities were males between ages 15 and 40. Is it a coincidence that this corresponds with the age range of most combatants?
Even after excluding those identified by PCHR as combatants, there is still a disproportionate number of fatalities among this age group in relation to their representation in the population. Given reports that Hamas fighters shed their uniforms and were indistinguishable from civilians, and given footage from the conflict showing people actively engaged in shooting from within crowds of civilians, it is right to question how it is possible for PCHR to distinguish combatants from those of the same age range who accompany them in battle.
It has also been widely reported that Hamas militants executed a number of Fatah supporters. Estimates of the number of Fatah supporters executed range as high as 70. Are these buried in the PCHR figures for civilian deaths?
Among Child Fatalities, an Unusual Proportion are Males Aged 15 to 17
PCHR records 281 child fatalities to January 21. But it gives specific age and gender information for only 253. Of these 253, 57 (23 percent) are 15 -17 year old males. Considering that this age group accounts for less than 8 percent of the under-18 population, 15-17 year old males are overrepresented as fatalities. Since Palestinian terror groups are known to have used teenagers from this age category to carry out suicide bombings, it is not unreasonable to suspect that a number of these teenage fatalities resulted from them having participated in combat.
