According to many critics, Israel is slaughtering civilians in Gaza. It's "purposefully wiping out entire families," says an Arab member of Israel's parliament. It's committing "genocide—the murder of entire families," says Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority. Iran says Israel has committed "massacres against the defenseless Palestinians."

The charges are false. By the standards of war, Israel's efforts to spare civilians have been exemplary.

Israel didn't choose this fight. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the terrorist organizations that dominate Gaza, claim that Israel provoked the conflict by arresting Hamas members in the
West Bank. But arrests in one territory don't justify aerial bombardment from another. Israel didn't hit Gaza until terrorists had fired more than 150 rockets into Israel and had rejected a cease-fire.

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