When looking at the current conflict in Gaza, there is a lot of emphasis placed on numbers; specifically the “victim count” that the media utilizes in every report. But this is not a paint-by-numbers situation. And numbers alone do not tell the full story. It is regrettable that civilian lives have been lost in Gaza. But it’s also a travesty that the Hamas terrorists who rule the Gaza Strip hide among the civilian population to perpetrate ongoing and relentless attacks against Israel.

There is a clear aggressor in this situation – Hamas. Once again, there is international condemnation of Israel’s defensive efforts to protect herself and her citizens, while at the same time excusing and ignoring the hundreds of Palestinian actions that sparked the confrontation. What nation would stand by and watch her citizens consistently made victims of terror, as Israel has in Beersheba, Ashkelon, Sderot, and other towns? For eight years, hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians have lived with terror attacks by Hamas and its allies, often on a daily basis. It is the right, and the obligation, of every nation to defend its citizens. Israel’s strike on Hamas and its terror infrastructure was a just stand against an untenable situation. Israel, after years of forbearance, is now exercising that right.

Since Israel began its operation on December 27, some have suggested that both sides are equally to blame for the situation. That is simply not the case. Hamas, the terrorist group that rules Gaza, is the clear antagonist here. On December 19, Hamas ended an already tenuous six-month ceasefire (tenuous because Hamas didn’t fully abide by it), to increase its rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli civilians. In that short time, Hamas has indiscriminately fired hundreds of its deadly rockets at civilian targets inside Israel.

Israel has shown tremendous restraint for a long time – since 2001, Hamas has fired more than 8,000 rockets and mortars at the Israeli civilian population. And yet Israel did not strike back with overwhelming force. Instead of being criticized for protecting its population, Israel should be praised for waiting this long to respond.

So why is it that the world doesn’t see that? Why is Israel, the only democracy in the region, held to a different set of standards than other nations? What other nation on earth is expected, or even asked, to sit on its hands while its civilians are running for cover day after day, year after year?

The people who insist Israel is using too much force, that Israel is a bully, are ignoring reality. Israel has demonstrated many times its willingness to live in peace and to support a two-state solution, while Hamas has declared that its sworn destiny is to destroy Israel by any means possible.

Hamas’ choice in this has been violence instead of peace for its own people. Hamas terrorists have long used the Gaza Strip as a staging ground for attacks against Israel – using its own civilians as human shields for terrorists to hide behind. In fact, Hamas stepped up its attacks against Israel after Israel’s voluntary withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 – squandering an opportunity for the region to govern itself. Hamas was handed the keys to Gaza, but instead of concentrating on the peaceful building of a modern Palestinian society, it was instead focused on the destruction of Israel.

After 9/11, an international force was deployed to respond to the perpetrators of the attacks thousands of miles away in Afghanistan – a justified and anticipated reaction. Israel, with its enemy only a mile away, should be entitled to do the same.

Hamas was founded on the mantle of the destruction of Israel. That is the purpose for its existence. By breaking the cease-fire, by constantly firing rockets and mortars into Israel, Hamas once again has clearly displayed its rampant disregard for human life – both Israeli and Palestinian.

There can be no room for talk of numbers and proportionality (the so-called overwhelming use of force by Israel compared to the “crude” rockets Hamas uses) when one side – Hamas – lives by the rule of terror and seeks only to kill, maim, and destroy.