Dropping a bomb on Gaza to kill a bunch of terrorists and end up killing dozens of civilians in the process.
As Hamas' leaders confessed to the U.N. in the infamous Goldstone Report, they actively employed human shields to protect their fighters and their rocket crews intent on bombarding Israel. According to some military analysts, under the circumstances Israel did an amazing job of limiting civilian casualties.
That's the missing context. In fighting an enemy who employs human shields, civilian casualties are almost unavoidable. So who committed the atrocity, those who dropped the bomb intending to kill terrorists or those who put civilians in the way with the intent of making them targets?
Pakistan's current offensive against the Taliban has also killed civilians, but you don't see pictures of that because (1) journalists' movements are restricted by the military, and (2) people here have told me that would offend local tastes. If you did see those pictures, would you suddenly think the Pakistan Army was hell-bent on creating atrocities? (The 1971 PA certainly was. )
And the terrorists killing less people than peanuts do in Israel.Translation: because peanuts accidentally kill a few people in Israel, terrorists should be allowed to get away with deliberately killing people in Israel. Would you accept it if I stabbed your child to death and justified getting away with it by citing your "peanut defense"?
Still, there is one small kernel of truth in what you said. The terror casualties were small. Israel put up with it for a long time. But the cost wasn't just in lives, but in the fact that increasingly large numbers of people had to hide and scamper from the rockets every single day to avoid injury. Do you think any other nation on Earth would have shown the patience Israel did, weighing the costs not only to its own people but to the populace under enemy control before taking action?