What a Piece of Work is Man - Hamas Ministry of Health, Shakespeare and Malthus

What a piece of work is a man!

How noble in reason!

How infinite in faculty!

In form and moving how express and admirable!

In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god!

The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals!

-William Shakespeare's play Hamlet

Thomas Robert Malthus was an influential British economist who is best

known for his theory on population growth, outlined in his 1798 book An

Essay on the Principle of Population.

In it, Malthus argued that populations inevitably expand until they outgrow

their available food supply, causing the population growth to be reversed by

disease, famine, war, or calamity.

I recently came across a study that listed all wars fought since 500 BCE with death figures over 25,000. It would seem to this particular study that death rates that are less than 25,000 are not important enough. I am using this “study” for purposes of discussion only and not for its accuracy, because its accuracy is certainly questionable. Its figures must be inaccurate since statistics have only been kept for less than 200 years and many figures must be anecdotal and inflated for propaganda purposes even to this day.

Nevertheless , I chose this chart to illustrate how Thomas Robert Malthus, who was much maligned, may have been right. Mankind just cannot seem to get along and as a result of disease, famine and especially warfare, populations do thin out.

As mankind’s knowledge grew over the centuries, so has its lethality. From the beginning of recorded history to 500 CE, 62 million people were killed as a result of war. In the next thousand years that figure almost doubled to 113 million. But from the Renaissance to the present the figure quadrupled. Over 600 million people died due to war since ancient times.

Ancient Wars to 500 CE 62,000,000

Medieval Wars 500 CE – 1500 113,000,000

Modern Wars 1500 to Present 432,981,000

From the perspective of Jewish History, we can see how many people have been killed “al Kiddush Hashem”. In the Jewish Roman Wars from 66 BCE to 135 CE between 1,270,000 and 2,000,000 Jews perished. Unfortunately, the chart does not break down the number of Jewish fatalities during the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Chmielnicki massacres and pogroms, notwithstanding the tragedy the Jewish people faced from 1933 to 1948 under the umbrella of the world’s antisemitism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_by_death_toll

The purpose of this post is for us to take a step back and look at the human condition in light of the events since October 7, 2023. From the beginning of the recording of history, humankind has been at war with itself. In spite of this, only we, as Jews, know that the IDF has embedded in its training and its Rules of Engagement, that as best as possible, it goes into battle with the best intentions not to harm innocents.

Today, I watched on MSNBC, two doctors involved in NGOs who have worked in Gaza over the last decade, claim that they have never witnessed a hamas "military presence" in the hospitals where they worked. They didn't say "a hamas presence". They specifically said a Hamas "military presence. Plus they denied any knowledge of any underground activity.

So I believe it's time to reinforce the positive aspects of how the IDF tries to mitigate the horrible effects of war.

The following is published by the IDF......

How Does the IDF Minimize Harm to Palestinian Civilians?

The IDF is currently engaged in Operation Pillar of Defense against Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip. As a result of Hamas’ strategy of using civilian areas for military purposes, it is inevitable that there will be civilian casualties in Gaza. Nonetheless, the IDF goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties and to minimize collateral damage.

The following are some ways the IDF uses in order to avoid civilian casualties.

While these warnings ruin the element of surprise and can help the enemy escape or call for his neighbors to serve as human shields, the IDF believes that it must take these steps whenever possible in order to avoid harming innocent bystanders.

1. Phone calls: During the last 24 hours of the operation, thousands of Israeli phone calls were made to residents of the Gaza Strip, warning them of IDF strikes in the area.

2. Leaflets: The Israel Air Force has dropped leaflets over Gaza that warn civilians to “avoid being present in the vicinity of Hamas operatives.”

The leaflets read in Arabic:

“Important announcement for the residents of the Gaza Strip:

For your own safety, take responsibility for yourselves and avoid being present in the vicinity of Hamas operatives and facilities and those of other terror organizations that pose a risk to your safety. Hamas is once again dragging the region to violence and bloodshed.

The IDF is determined to defend the residents of the State of Israel. This announcement is valid until quiet is restored to the region. Israel Defense Forces Command.”

3. Diverting missiles in mid-flight: During Operation Cast Lead in 2008-09, the IDF aborted many missions seconds before they were to be carried out, due to civilians being present at the site of the target.

The following video https://www.idf.il/en/articles/operation-pillar-of-defence/how-does-the-idf- minimize-harm-to-palestinian-civilians/ is an example of an IAF airstrike that

was called off as the missile was on its way to the target.

4. Roof Knocking: “Roof knocking” is when the IAF targets a building with a loud but non-lethal bomb that warns civilians that they are in the vicinity of a weapons cache or other target. This method is used to allow all residents to leave the area before the IDF targets the site with live ammunition.

5. Pinpoint Targeting: The IDF, whenever possible, singles out terrorists and targets them in a way that will endanger few or no bystanders. This can often be hard to do, since terrorists prefer to hide in crowded areas.

The former Commander of the British Armed Forces in Afghanistan, Col. Richard Kemp, has explained the IDF’s efforts to avoid civilian casualties:

“The UN estimate that there has been an average three-to-one ratio of civilian

to combatant deaths in such conflicts worldwide. Three civilians for every combatant killed. That is the estimated ratio in Afghanistan: three to one. In Iraq, and in Kosovo, it was worse: the ratio is believed to be four-to-one. Anecdotal evidence suggests the ratios were very much higher in Chechnya and Serbia.

In Gaza, it was less than one-to-one.”

Despite all precautions, IDF forces may have mistakenly targeted sites and hurt Palestinian civilians. The IDF is fully committed to ensuring that every allegation of wrongdoing be fully and fairly investigated, though this will happen after the conclusion of the operation.