Hard Backlash has been poured on The Atlantic after it cast doubt on the extensive civilian death toll resulting from the US-backed Israeli war on Gaza, provocatively suggesting that “it is possible to kill children legally.”
Graeme Wood, a staff writer for the outlet, articulated his scepticism regarding the United Nations’ reported figures on the Gaza death toll in an opinion piece titled “The UN’s Gaza Statistics Make No Sense.”
Wood argued that the UN’s numbers are unreliable, asserting, “The UN numbers changed because the UN has little idea how many children have been killed in Gaza, beyond ‘a lot.’ It gets its statistics from Hamas.”
On May 6, the UN reported that 69% of the death toll in Gaza were women and children. However, this figure was revised to 52% two days later. Despite this adjustment, the overall death toll in Gaza remains over 35,000. Initially, the UN reported that 9,500 women and 14,500 children were among the casualties. These figures were later revised to 4,959 women and 7,797 children.
However, Wood remarks has received a notable backlash online for saying: “It is possible to kill children legally, if for example one is being attacked by an enemy who hides behind them. But the sight of a legally killed child is no less disturbing than the sight of a murdered one.”
Amnesty International says it has conducted in-depth investigations into 16 Israeli air strikes that killed a total of 370 civilians, including 159 children, and left hundreds more wounded.
The organisation has found what it says is “evidence of war crimes by Israeli forces, including direct attacks on civilians or indiscriminate attacks, as well as other unlawful attacks and collective punishment of the civilian population.”
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