Israel told again to stop killing civilians

Lloyd Austin, US Defence Secretary, is the latest American official to plead with Israel to stop killing so many civilians in Gaza. Israel is now getting almost daily calls and appeals from around the world to stop adding to the appalling toll of civilian deaths, now totalling more than 18,000, according to the Gaza health ministry which is controlled by Hamas. The answer from Israel is always the same. If it was that easy and straightforward to just send troops in to isolate and eliminate Hamas fighters, they would have done it a long time ago. But, as the Israeli gvernment tells its frequent visitors from the US and Europe, Hamas is deliberately hiding among civilians and civilian buildings, so it's inevitable that innocent Palestinians are dying. It's a Catch-22 for the Israeli troops and it's definitely a tragic Catch-22 for the Palestinian people who are caught in the middle and have nowhere truly safe to go. I doubt Austin will get any promises from Israel, other than a pledge to focus as much as possible on targeting visible Hamas fighters rather than buildings below which they believe Hamas is hiding. This has been the dilemma for Israel ever since they launched their retaliatory strikes on Hamas after the October 7 terrorist massacre. Austin arrived im Israel as Hamas claimed more than 100 Palestinians had been killed north of Gaza City. This horrific death toll I fear is going to continue whetever Austin and others say because the Israel Defence Forces are nowhere near finishing the job of eliminating Hamas.