Israel and its allies question the civilian casualty figures for Gaza, claiming that HAMAS exaggerates the number of casualties caused by Israel's bombardment of Gaza. Others argue for trusting those figures on the grounds that there are ways to cross-check the details so that falsifying the totals would not be feasible.

Does this question make a crucial difference? I don't think so. Even if the number of Gazan civilians killed by Israel's bombardment were only 4,000 instead of the 7,000 reported by the HAMAS-run Gaza medical system, it would still be mass murder and a war crime.

The fact that HAMAS committed mass murder first doesn't excuse Israel for committing mass murder second.