As could be expected elements of the Press, anti-Israel activists and the many purveyors of Taqiyya or lying for the benefit of Islam have been out in force following the tragic battlefield incident in Gaza where seven aid workers including three ex UK forces security staff were killed. When this news broke we had, as if by clockwork, the anti-Israel headcases from both the Left and the Islamic camps popping up and treating the deaths of these people as if this was a unique event illustrating Israel’s equally unique perfidy.

However the truth is that such a claim is complete bollocks. Yes Israeli forces screwed up and let loose lethal weaponry on an aid convoy whose movement was supposed to have been cleared with the Israeli military, but I have severe doubts as to whether this was deliberate targeting on Israel’s part. It’s much more likely that what we have here is the result of faulty intelligence or miscommunication all mixed in with the general fog of war. I say this because there is no political or military benefit from such deliberate targeting of this convoy that such an act would achieve for Israel.

From what has come out publicly so far this is one of those battlefield screw ups that have always happened and in many different theatres of conflict across the globe. This incident is not unique to Israel or this current war between Israel and the beasts of Hamas.

Battlefields are dangerous places. They are dangerous for those who fight in them, they are dangerous to those 10%, on average, of civilians who refuse to leave their homes or evacuate the battle area, they are dangerous for aid agencies, journalists and those providing security support to those non-combatants who are working in them.

If you are not a civilian who has voluntarily decided to stay in a warzone or are being kept there as human shields, as is likely the case with the civilians who live in those parts of Gaza that are still under Hamas control, then battlefields are places to avoid. Other civilians should keep away from warzones unless they are being particularly well paid for doing so or they are aid workers or Press operatives who are absolutely clear about the very high risks of such work. Anybody working in these fields should know that there will be a very much heightened chance that you will come home in a box a victim of friendly fire, enemy fire, other violence, accident or disease. Decades ago I looked into the possibility of working in a civilian capacity in combat zones and came to the conclusion that the risk/financial reward equation of what I was being offered didn’t work out in my favour.

The awful tragedy that happened in Gaza and which has resulted in the deaths of four aid workers and their three man security team is not something that is unique to this conflict. We see the deaths of civilian non-combatant workers in every major and some more minor conflicts. In 2021 three employees of Doctors Without Borders were deliberately killed by retreating Ethiopian troops during conflict in the Tigray region of that country. July 2020 saw the killing of five aid workers from various NGO’s in the Borno region of Nigeria with the killings being carried out by Jihadists associated with the Boko Haram group. South Sudan was the site of numerous attacks on aid workers with 19 aid workers killed in 2023 alone.

Those who work for the press continue to be casualties of the wars and social upheavals that they cover for the media that employs them. According to the French Reporters Without Borders NGO since the beginning of the 21^st century there have been 1688 journalists killed either because of their work as combat reporters or because of the particular journalistic work that they had been undertaking. Those of us who have had some form of education or experience in photography or journalism can also list many other reporters and photographers who have died as a result of their work in conflict zones most notably for me Robert Capa and David ‘Chim’ Seymour whose work I admired.

There was no military gain to be had by Israel deliberately targeting this convoy, those Leftists and Muslim gobshites who say that this is what happened are about as accurate and truthful as one of Dr Goebbels’s speeches all those many years ago. Such claims are nothing more than tin foil hattery of a leftist and Islamic sort. Like Flat Earthers the increasing deranged and dangerous Islamo-Left spew accusations against Israel that this attack was deliberate whilst failing to acknowledge that erroneous targeting, faulty intelligence and the general fog of war has created dozens of similar tragedies. Khaled Hussain, an MA holder with a background in defence and security, listed on Twitter/X, just a few of the incidents from Afghanistan to Sudan where mistakes have led to civilian deaths and pointed out that those who hate Jews seem to be ignoring past cases of erroneous deaths of civilians and only focusing on Israel.

In preparation for this article I did some digging on the history of 20^th century warfare and on some of the non-combatant deaths that have occurred as an incidental event of fighting. The numbers are horrific with at least 6 million civilians being killed as a result of WWI from being deliberately massacred, from artillery fire that laid waste to the land, from starvation and disease including the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. In WWII in the war’s closing stages, in an effort to hasten the liberation of Denmark and also stop the Soviets going to far West, the RAF attacked a ship loaded with concentration camp inmates who were being housed there after one of the camps were evacuated by the Germans. Thousands died in this incident but it’s cause was inadequate preparation for front line troops in this action along with poor intelligence that was even poorly disseminated to those on the ground who had need of it. There are of course other wars with many other accidental tragedies for you to read about should you wish.

To conclude: The noises coming out of the Islamo-Left and their supporters in the media and among the political classes should be soundly ignored. These noise makers are not concerned with truth and are only concerned with treating Israel as if this nation was uniquely evil. Well it’s not, it’s little different from any other nation, it’s one with unique challenges it needs to be said, but it has the same capacity to screw up as Britain, the USA, Russia, France, Germany or any other nation has.

The mistake that the Israeli military have made is the same mistake that the armed forces of a multitude of other nations have made and we should not forget that. Accidental civilian deaths are not just a problem with the Israel / Hamas War but are an unfortunate feature of every war.