There is a lopsided discussion about civilian losses in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Some claim since Israel has few losses and Gaza has many, that Israel is to blame, but it is not a math equation.

No one likes to see civilians die, and even more concerning is when they are deliberately targeted. Hamas is a terrorist organization with a public goal to destroy the state of Israel and demonstrates no care for civilian life. Hamas denied kidnapping three civilian Israeli teens but congratulated the abductors. The teens were later murdered in cold blood.

Hamas hides rockets in urban areas, schools, medical centers, and political-religious buildings of Gaza to hinder Israeli strikes, and has fired an estimated 1,400 rockets that deliberately target Jewish civilians, yet no one cries foul.

Israel has a stated goal to protect all civilians and takes precautions using warning leaflets, cell phone calls, and other measures to warn Gazan civilians before neutralizing rocket launch sites.

What about risks to Israeli civilians from Hamas rocket attacks? The Israeli missile defense is good, but not fail-safe, and rockets will eventually get through with great loss of civilian life. Israel has endured this kind of deadly harassment for years.

Casualties would not occur if Hamas stopped attacking indiscriminately.

The Jewish people have a right to exist in their God-given land. I support their right to live in peace without air raid sirens warning of rockets they hope are intercepted.

Isaiah Lary, Wales