[mikevm]

I too was surprised by the high civilian casualties given Israel's attempts at warning the population before they strike. I wondered why would people stay in that area if they knew the Israelis were going to strike? And then I got the answer: http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4706/gazan-hamas-war-crime...

    "Hamas imposed a curfew: anyone walking out in the street was shot. 
    That way people had to stay in their homes, even if they were about to get bombed. 
    Hamas held the whole Gazan population as a human shield." — K., graduate student

Regarding the civilian-to-fighter ratio: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28688179

Another interesting thing to note is that according to the CIA World Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/...) Gaza's age structure is:

   0-14 years: 43.2% (male 402,848/female 381,155)
   15-24 years: 20.6% (male 191,710/female 182,405)
   25-54 years: 30.1% (male 280,551/female 266,756)