The latest numbers from the Israeli Defense Forces say that about 900 residents of Gaza have been killed in Operation Cast Lead, and 650 of them have been combatants.

The deaths of the 250 noncombatants are tragic and it’s wrong when they’re only callously dismissed as collateral damage.

However, Israel makes a great effort to minimize civilian casualties. It’s difficult to keep civilian casualties low when Hamas intentionally hides rockets in mosques and shoots them out of schools in densely populated areas of Gaza.

The Israeli Defense Forces have even called people living in neighborhoods in which Hamas stores weapons or terrorists to tell them that they are going to attack the houses being used for those purposes.

In response, Hamas will gather up civilians to put in those houses so that when Israel does bomb them, the civilian death toll increases dramatically.

The greatest weapon Hamas has against Israel is to have it portrayed in the Western media as a country bent on genocide with the intended effect that Israel would lose international support.

I also disagree with the author’s suggestion that President-elect Barack Obama’s base condemns Israel’s actions. I was and still am a strong Obama supporter.

When Obama visited Sderot, a town in southern Israel that is perpetually bombed by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, he said “if missiles were falling where my two daughters sleep, I would do everything in order to stop that.”

I bet many in Obama’s camp would say and do the same thing.

Jason Berstein

mathematics junior