first of all, hamas doesn't think the same way. they think any civilian is a legitimate target, they have said it many times.
Can you provide a reliable source that confirms Hamas is considering that civilians are a legitimate target?
This is what I read from MSNBC few days ago:
Most Israelis Are Combatants?
A key Hamas official discusses his organization?s policy on killing civilians and how it will respond to Israel?s latest Gaza strike
July 24 ? In the aftermath of Israel?s airstrike on Gaza that killed top Hamas militant Salah Shehada and 14 other Palestinians?including nine children?leaders of the fundamentalist Islamic group say it is channeling all its efforts into mounting fresh suicide attacks. A leaflet issued by Hamas a day after Tuesday?s Israeli raid said its fighters would not rest until ?Jews see their own body parts in every restaurant, every park, every bus and every street.?
BUT STRIKING at the Jewish state will be harder now. Many of Hamas? key operatives are either dead or in jail, and Israeli troops still occupy most West Bank cities. Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, one of Hamas? dominant political figures in the Gaza Strip, says the group was conditionally ready to stop suicide attacks against Israel before the latest escalation?though analysts think Hamas? conditions were probably too hard-line for Israel to meet. Rantissi spoke with NEWSWEEK?s Dan Ephron.
NEWSWEEK: What kind of understanding was Hamas hoping to achieve with the Israelis?
Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi: We suggested an initiative that if the Israeli Zionists stop their attacks on civilians, we were prepared to stop our martyrdom [suicide] attacks. Among our conditions was the demand that Israel release all Palestinian prisoners and pull troops out of the West Bank and Gaza.
Where does the initiative stand now?
We saw what Sharon?s response was.
But you were ready to call off attacks so the two sides could talk?
We don?t believe that if we stop attacks an agreement will ensue. But we were ready to do it to show the Arab countries that we?re not the problem.
You shared a prison cell with Salah Shehada. What was he like?
We were in prison together in the same cell in 1995 and 1996 ... He was very strong physically, very tough in difficult situations.
What was he convicted of?
He was convicted of belonging to the military wing of Hamas, but he never confessed to it.
Was he the leader of the military wing of Hamas?
Yes, but only in Gaza.
That means Shehada oversaw all the attacks in Gaza?
I would think so, based on his title.
Your group was outraged by Israel?s killing of women and children in the bombing this week, but Shehada himself engineered attacks against civilians.
We are targeting soldiers but sometimes civilians get killed. We always try to limit ourselves to attacking soldiers. Look at the percentage of Israeli soldiers killed in the fighting?it?s more than 50 percent. I?m speaking about statistics, not imaginary things. Combatants are not just people who wear uniforms.
What do you mean? How does Hamas define civilians?
An Israeli civilian is someone who never took part in the fighting. If he participated in the fighting in the past, years ago, he is not a civilian. That?s why Israelis are still pursuing the Germans who took part in the Holocaust, though some of these people are in their 80s. They are still considered soldiers.
So you consider all Israeli men combatants because they at one time or another served in the army and do reserve duty?
Yes.
What about Israeli women?
Most Israeli women served in the army.
According to these criteria, what percentage of the Israeli population do you consider combatants?
The majority. We choose military targets. If civilians are liable to die, that isn?t a reason to stop the attack. But we don?t set out to kill civilians.
That reasoning sounds like what Israelis are saying about the bomb that killed Shehada as well as women and children.
Our formula is different. According to their logic, it?s enough for there to be one fighter in a neighborhood to justifying dropping the bomb.
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