Measures Taken by The Idf During Operation Cast Lead to Minimize Civilian Casualities

‘Operation Cast Lead’ refers to the 2008 offensive against the terrorist outfits present in the Gaza Strip and its ruling Hamas by the Israeli Defence Forces.  Operation Cast Lead was launched with many objectives in mind. One of the main objectives was to prevent further rocket attacks on Israeli cities which were under constant threat of rocket and mortar attack by terrorists.

Israel launched an operation on December 27th 2008 by launching pre-emptive strikes against the Hamas and targeted Government offices, police stations and military facilities. In urban areas, all missile strikes were surgical were they ensured that there would be minimal or no collateral damage. Non-surgical strikes were done only in open areas such as the desert where there would be lesser population. The surgical strikes were meant to ensure that Hamas officials, militants and hostile targets were the only ones which would be targeted in the attack. The pre-emptive strike was also targeted against artillery, rocket launchers and ammunition stockpiles hidden in civilian structures and buildings.

Hours before a rocket attack against a particular area, the Israeli Air Force would drop hundreds of leaflets over that area telling the people when and where exactly the rocket attack would take place and would issue the civilians in the area a warning to vacate the area at once. These leaflets were issued in the Arabic language so that residents in the area would be able to comprehend and would begin arrangements to leave at once. If that wasn’t enough, all the cell phones in that area would receive SMS over SMS asking them to leave as quickly as possible. In the end, when there would be about 15-20 minutes to strike, there would be phone calls asking the residents to vacate at once. Which country would show so much mercy so as to give the exact time and location of the strike? The answer is Israel.

Israel had brought in many injured Palestinians into Israeli hospitals for medical treatment during the attacks. Israeli doctors selflessly treated those Palestinians who were brought into their hospitals for treatment. Most of the injured survived their injuries and were grateful to these doctors who put aside their anger and worked towards a humanitarian cause.

When Israeli soldiers entered the Gaza Strip, they used rubber bullets to minimize fatalities. The rubber bullets put these soldiers in additional danger of being killed but the Israeli troops still used rubber bullets because they did not want to kill any innocent civilians, not even by mistake. No country or army would take additional risk to ensure the safety of the hostile population.

Israel could have just ignored the civilian casualties in Gaza and conventionally bombed the Gaza Strip, but Israel did care for the innocent civilians and residents of the Gaza Strip who were paying for the mistakes of the Hamas. Therefore, even if it meant spending so much money on precision strikes, equipment, leaflets, phone calls, SMSes, rubber bullets and medical aid, Israel did it and they did it because they had compassion for suffering innocent people. Next time when someone blames Israel for Palestinian casualties during Operation Cast Lead, you may want to think again.