Dear Friends,

 

Thank you so much to all of you who joined us last Thursday for our webinar titled, "Deception Unveiled: The Lies Turning Christians Against Israel." Our audience included Christians and Jews from all across the US and quite a few countries around the world. We received a significant number of follow-up questions and comments following the live event and are grateful for the constructive involvement of so many. If you missed the webinar, would like to listen again, or share it with others, you can find it here. 

 

Many attendees asked for a summary of facts and figures referenced in the discussions concerning false accusations that 1) Israel is responsible for a grossly inflated number of civilian deaths in Gaza and 2) Israel has intentionally caused a famine and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. (Please note: the information given below is in no way inclusive of all the available data that refutes these two charges. It only represents what was highlighted within the time constraints of the webinar.)

 

In response to the allegation that Israel is responsible for a grossly inflated number of civilian deaths:

 

1. It is difficult to determine an accurate number of civilian deaths for the following reasons:

 

• Hamas includes dead terrorists in the number of civilian deaths they report.

• Terrorists dress as civilians. So, when they are eliminated by the IDF, they are counted by Hamas as dead civilians.

• The IDF reports it has eliminated over 14,000 terrorists since October 7th. Therefore, that number must be deducted from any number of civilian deaths given by Hamas.

• Many civilians are guilty of the same war crimes committed by Hamas on October 7th and since. In particular, civilians participated in the taking of hostages, and a number of hostages have been held in civilian homes.

• These realities raise a legitimate question concerning the classification of dead civilians who were complicit in war crimes. Should they be identified as civilians or combatants?

 

2. Concerning the actual number of civilian casualties:

 

• The Hamas-run Ministry of Health has reported over 37,000 deaths since October 7th. However, the Ministry of Health does not offer any distinction between civilians and combatants.

• Recently, Hamas had to admit that the number of civilian deaths was inflated by at least double the actual number because they have no supporting evidence for the original number.

• Again, the IDF reports that it has eliminated over 14,000 terrorists. Therefore, this number must be taken into consideration when Hamas provides a report that does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

 

3. The truth is, the IDF does everything it can to prevent civilian casualties by:

 

• Making targeted attacks on terrorist sites

• Warning civilians in advance so they can leave targeted areas

 

4. In contrast, Hamas uses it own civilians as human shields because Hamas needs civilian deaths to use in their propaganda war against Israel.

 

In response to the allegation that Israel has intentionally caused a famine and humanitarian crisis in Gaza:

 

1. The Famine Review Committee of the United Nations failed to find any evidence of a famine according to a new report published on June 4, 2024. Not only could a famine not be found for the time period preceding May 2024, but the report concluded that the FRC was unable to predict a famine for the time period of May 1–July 31, 2024.

 

2. COGAT, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, issued a report titled, "Discrepancies in UN Aid to Gaza Data," in which it states:

 

• "There are significant gaps in the data presented on the UN dashboard and the data collected and published by COGAT."

• "After a thorough review and analysis of the data collected by COGAT and UNRWA, we have identified underreporting of over 8,000 trucks from the beginning of the war, with 4,880 ‘missing’ trucks in the month of May alone."

 

3. A third study conducted by the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) reports an even higher discrepancy.

 

• The INSS found that "approximately 10,000 aid trucks that entered Gaza during the conflict months were omitted from U.N. reports. While U.N. figures cite about 28,000 trucks, the Israeli Defense Forces’ District Coordination and Liaison (DCL) reports a significantly higher number of 38,000.”

• The study further notes that "the United Nations disregards the fact that Hamas attacks the crossings through which aid is brought in and forcibly takes control of convoys. The reports omit crucial facts about Hamas’s control over convoy routes and distribution points. They also fail to mention incidents of looting of aid trucks, storage facilities and distribution points by Hamas and criminal gangs."

 

4. The truth is, Israel has consistently enabled the entry of food and humanitarian supplies into Gaza throughout the war and has gone above and beyond any reasonable expectation to allow food, water and humanitarian relief into Gaza during a time of war.

 

5. In contrast, Hamas has taken control of the vast majority of the shipments and much of the aid has gone to resupply the same terrorists Israel is trying to neutralize.

 

If you would like to listen to the webinar or share it with others, please click here for the recording.