(NationalUSNews.com) — Satellite photos of Gaza from October 1 and November 1 show the marked destruction that has occurred in retaliation for the October 7th attack on a peaceful concert by the terrorist group Hamas. Since then, Israel has been bombing areas they believe to have a connection with Hamas or are tactically important to them. Since the retaliatory attacks have begun, the Gaza Ministry of Health says that over 9,400 Palestinians have been killed, 3,900 of whom were children. They claim over 2,000 people are still missing.
Hamas is still holding all but four of the approximately 240 hostages they took on October 7th when they attacked a peaceful concert in Israel. There are some who support ground troops going into Gaza to retrieve them, as Israeli ground troops have already found and retrieved one Israeli soldier hostage. However, many Israelis do not support this action as they believe it would result in the deaths of hostages, which include many children.
Father-in-law and grandfather to four hostages, Shmuel Brodutch, holds signs outside Israel’s military headquarters demanding that Israel conduct a massive prisoner exchange for all the hostages, where Israel would release all Palestinian prisoners in exchange. Recent polling shows wide support for this grand exchange, but officials say it is not on the table.
In the meantime, analysis of the satellite photos indicates that a quarter of the buildings in northern Gaza have been damaged or destroyed by Israel’s attacks. The UN human rights office has expressed concern that the level of damage and civilian casualties have been disproportionate and could “amount to war crimes “. Israeli officials have said that their response is necessary to root out Hamas and that the civilian casualties are a tragedy of war. International humanitarian law states that even attacks on legitimate military targets are prohibited if they could be expected to result in harm to civilians. The Biden administration, which has been supporting Israel in the conflict, has asked that the Israeli military conform to the rules of war.
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