Claims that Israel deliberately murders civilians in Gaza have circulated for years, but on December 10, 2025, they were pushed squarely into the mainstream when Tucker Carlson declared on X that “it’s just a fact” Israel murdered “tens of thousands of women and children” on purpose. He dismissed explanations of accidental civilian casualties as a “lie.”
There is no credible evidence to support that charge. The available record shows the opposite: Israel has taken extensive, documented measures to avoid civilian harm. Civilian casualties in Gaza are tragic and real, but they occur largely because Hamas embeds itself in civilian areas and uses civilians as shields.
Israel has consistently and unequivocally rejected claims that it deliberately targets women and children. The Israel Defense Forces operates under directives that prohibit deliberate attacks on civilians, a position that has been widely reported and examined. Far from denying the human cost of war, Israeli officials have repeatedly acknowledged that civilian deaths occur while stressing that they are neither intended nor ignored.
Israel’s efforts to reduce civilian harm have been well documented. The IDF imposes restrictions on the use of force near civilians, relies on precision-guided munitions, and routinely warns civilians before military operations. These warnings include phone calls and text messages, leaflet drops and radio broadcasts, and the use of “roof knocking,” a non-lethal warning munition intended to prompt evacuation. These measures exist precisely because Hamas operates from within dense civilian populations.
Claims of intentional mass civilian killing are also contradicted by Israel’s targeting methods. The IDF uses snipers, armed drones, and precision strikes aimed at specific terrorist targets. Such tactics would be unnecessary if Israel were attempting indiscriminate killing. Precision warfare, by definition, reflects an effort to limit collateral damage.
Even Hamas’s own casualty figures undermine the narrative Carlson promoted. In Khan Yunis, between January and May 2024, Hamas-reported data showed that women and children accounted for just 34 percent of reported deaths, despite making up roughly 75 percent of the population. That disparity is inconsistent with claims of systematic civilian targeting.
In March 2025, Hamas listed 50,021 identified deaths. Women and children comprised 51 percent, while roughly 45 percent were fighting-age males, with some minors classified as underage combatants. These proportions point to targeted strikes on combatants, not deliberate attacks on civilians. Even accepting Hamas’s inflated total of roughly 62,000 deaths and an estimated 22,000 terrorists killed, the resulting civilian-to-combatant ratio is about 2:1. The United Nations’ own benchmark for urban warfare is closer to 9:1. No military intentionally targeting civilians would produce ratios that low.
Hamas casualty reporting itself is notoriously unreliable. Its Ministry of Health labels all deaths as “civilians,” routinely misclassifies adult males as women or children, and excludes those killed by Hamas or by natural causes. The data has been reshuffled, deleted, and recategorized throughout the war. Despite these flaws, many Western commentators continue to treat Hamas’s numbers as fact, handing the terror group a major propaganda victory.
Israel’s restraint has come at a steep cost. Roughly 1,000 Israeli soldiers have died in a ground offensive that would be unnecessary if Israel were seeking to maximize civilian casualties from the air. Former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz has said he was proud that Golani Brigade soldiers were sacrificed to spare Palestinian civilians and has described personally overseeing civilian evacuations before strikes, even when those delays increased risk to Israeli troops.
International law analysts have repeatedly concluded that Israel’s conduct in Gaza falls within the bounds of the laws of armed conflict. Advance warnings, evacuation efforts, precision targeting, and the willingness to absorb greater military risk are hallmarks of compliance, not criminal intent.
The claim that Israel is deliberately killing civilians relies almost entirely on Hamas-manipulated casualty data and ignores a substantial body of evidence to the contrary. The facts show an Israeli military conducting one of the most restrained urban warfare campaigns in modern history, often at great cost to its own soldiers.
