This "dead baby strategy" has been used by Hamas for decades. Their leaders regard increasing the reported number of civilian casualties among Palestinians as necessary to victory, both in the court of public opinion and in the courts of law. Hence, they declare these dead civilians to be martyrs and encourage civilians to remain in dangerous places and among Hamas combatants.

This may be the first time in military history that leaders have admitted putting their own people in harm's way to increase the casualty figures (here, here, here, here and here).

Without the support of the media, this strategy would not succeed. It requires that the media report Hamas-generated civilian casualty figures uncritically and without investigating the underlying components of the reported figures.

So the media report approximately 43,000 dead Palestinians.