What people refuse to acknowledge is Hamas's blatant use of their own people as human shields

They want them to be killed and use it as a weapon against Israel. For Israel, a single hostage or civilian death on either side is too high. But Hamas, like most other fundamentalist Islamic organisations, holds no such value. In their own words: "We love death as much as the Jews love life." To them, their very own people are regarded as expendables in their "holy cause" of jihad, to be martyred both as fodder against the enemy and as fuel for worldwide sympathy from gullible people. And in such a tiny, densely populated area as Gaza, of course, there will be high casualties. This is all written in their charter - look it up for yourselves if you don't believe me!