During its 158 airstrikes since Tuesday morning against Islamic Jihad in Gaza, there have been instances where the IDF has delayed or called off attacks to avoid civilian casualties.
In a video distributed to the media, the IDF highlighted one such instance where it called off an attack to avoid striking two civilian minors.
Watch: The moment an IAF pilot cancels a strike against Islamic Jihad terrorists because of the presence of children near the target. pic.twitter.com/geCzHjxWEU
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 11, 2023
The target appeared to be rockets or a rocket crew in an outdoor area covered by a number of trees.
Initially, one of the IDF targeting officials connected to IDF air force unit 200 can be heard saying that they are only one minute from firing on the target.
However, then another voice is heard identifying a child nearby.
IDF calls off airstrike to avoid hitting children in Gaza. (Credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)
The second voice then identifies a second child.
Some of the children can be seen running around and the original voice says multiple times to pause the attack.
Eventually, the commander says the attack is permanently called off.
IDF waited until targeted Islamic Jihad commanders were away from civilians
In fact, the initiation of the counterstrike operation early Tuesday morning, with a week-long delay since Islamic Jihad fired over 100 rockets on Israel on May 2-3, was partially to wait until the three top Islamic Jihad targeted commanders were all in areas with fewer nearby civilians.
Despite that waiting, a number of family members and possibly some other civilians were killed during the attacks.
The laws of war require limiting civilian casualties as much as possible in war but do allow some ancillary civilian casualties when the military target will present a sufficient advantage.
What those terms mean and their balance are hotly debated.
On one hand, Israel is criticized by many international bodies when it kills civilians. On the other hand. The IDF has received compliments from other militaries for cutting-edge tactics to avoid civilian casualties.
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