Official? By who? Hamas (who counts all dead as civilians and refuses to count any as militants)? Or the UNRWA (with members in Hamas)? (Edited- I see your source article gets the data from the Gaza Ministry of Health, in other words, Hamas)
The IDF says they have killed 20,000 Hamas militants. I recognize they have a bias (I assume they are possibly victim to the same counting issues the U.S. had in Vietnam).
Who is official?
Should we accept both? 41,000 dead, 20,000 of them Hamas militants, and 21,000 civilian Gazans caught in the (literal) crossfire? (Which is awful, but nowhere near as bad as civilian casualties in every other urban conflict, almost as if Israel really isn’t trying to kill civilians as it pursues Hamas through the towns and cities it bases in)
Does Israel get any credit for warning civilians to leave areas? Is that “wanton”?
I get that there is another interpretation, that Gaza is not distinct from Israel, that Israel has jurisdiction over it, and responsibility for the Gazans. Per this argument, Israel should treat the Hamas matter as more of a criminal issue, and address it more through policing, with utmost care to not harm civilians or their property. Israel rejects this argument, though.
Does Egypt get any blame for refusing admission to fleeing Palestinian civilians? Isn’t that wanton? (Definition- “deliberate and unprovoked”)
This war, I believe, is a serious issue, and I don’t think hyperbole in pursuit of a moral equivalency is helpful.
As for war crimes, that is a real topic. It affects all armies. What differentiates them is how they are handled (or not handled, as the case may be). There are four U.S. servicemen, for example, imprisoned in Leavenworth, who will never again see the light of day as free men. They raped and killed a young Iraqi girl, and murdered her family to cover it up. I’m sure Iraqis think the punishment too lenient, perhaps rightfully, but there was a formal investigation and trial. As an American, I’m ashamed of these soldiers, but not ashamed of their handling and disposition.
Similarly, the IDF has a formal process for investigating proposed war crimes. Do you believe it inadequate? How do you think it compares to the other belligerents in this conflict?