I think that when you're fighting against an enemy that's hiding behind its own population, using them as human shields, the administration has said this, Secretary Blinken has said this repeatedly, there's going to be civilian casualties.
Michael Oren: “I think that when you're fighting against an enemy that's hiding behind its own population, using them as human shields…”
Editor's note · Context
Michael Oren discusses the expected civilian casualties in the context of the ongoing conflict and the pressures faced by the Biden administration.
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If the United States gets behind this effort to stop both of these extremisms together with Israel, there are tremendous opportunities here.
I think, we certainly should. We know where every bomb falls. This is a very organized army. We actually know where our artillery shell assaults. It's all written down. It's all computerized.
You have Mahmoud Abbas. He is the president for the Palestinian authority. He's in the 18th year of his four-year term, all right? He will not stand for re-election because he knows if he does, he's going to lose to Hamas.
We've learned that Hamas will hold onto these hostages. Some will be killed. Many will be tortured. But generally, Hamas wants to hold on to these hostages and use them as bargaining chips.