The highest-ranking U.S. military officer said he wants to learn from Israel’s good example.

 Army General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, claimed that Israel went to “‘extraordinary lengths’” to prevent civilian casualties in the recent war in Gaza, and that the Pentagon sent a team to study the nation’s operations.

 Israel was criticized for civilian deaths during the skirmish, including by the US, but now Dempsey said he thought the armed forces “‘did what they could’” to avoid civilian casualties.

 Dempsey said he believed the Israeli forces faced a challenge as Hamas turned Gaza into a “‘very nearly subterranean society.’”

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